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Presented   by    Pres'iieYvt  Patto*ri 


BR  85  .L428  1909 

Leavitt,  John  McDowell,  1824 

Bible  league  essays  in  Bible 
defence  and  exposition 


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BIBLE   LEAGUE   ESSAYS 


IN 


BIBLE  DEFENCE  AND  EXPOSITION 


BY 
/ 

john  Mcdowell  leavitt,  d.d.,ll.d 

EX-PRESIDENT  OF   LEHIGH   UNIVERSITY, 

Author  of  "Reasons    for    Faith  in    Christianity", 
and  "The  Christian  Democracy". 


Bible  League  Book  Company 

No.  86  Bible  House 

New  York 

1909 


Copyright,  iqoS,  by  John  McDowell  Lcavitt 


NOTICE. 
Fifteen  of  these  chapters  appeared  as  articles  in  "The 
Bible  Student  and  Teacher",  which  is  the  organ  of  the 
American  Bible  League.   Hence  the  title  of  this  Volume. 


Press  of  J.  Heidingsfeld,  New  Brunsivick,  A".  J 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
I. 

Science  a  Key  to  Genesis 5, 

II. 
Christian  Science  2I 

III. 
Pantheism,  Science  and  Scripture 36 

IV. 
Dr.  Driver  and  his  Psalter 48 

V. 

Dr.  Briggs  and  his  Psalter 52 

VI. 

Pagan  and  Christian  Rome  in  the  Apocalypse.     65 

VII. 
Papal  Rome  in  the  Apocalypse 81 

VIII. 
Divine  Sovereignty 97 

„     IX. 
Jews  and  Messiah I03 


PAGE 

X. 

Jews  and  Messiah 117 

XL 
Remission   131 

XII. 
Ecclesiastical  Sovereignty 145 

XIII. 
Christian  Priesthood   : 151 

XIV. 
Sacramental  Salvation   154 

XV. 
Anglican  Reform   158 

XVI. 
Cardinal  Manning   171 

XVII. 
Bishop  Potter   189 

XVIII. 
President  White  206 

XIX. 
Christ  Our  Vine 215 

XX. 

ESCHATOLOGY 224 


SCIENCE  A  KEY  TO  GENESIS. 


On  the  first  verse  of  the  Bible  rests  the  whole  scheme 
of  Christianity.  Creatorship  determines  the  relations 
of  all  beings  in  the  universe.  He  who  made  us  is  our 
sovereign  and  is  over  us  rightfully  supreme.  Disobedi- 
ence to  Him  is  rebellion.  Hence  redemption  also  pre- 
sumes Creatorship,  which,  from  Genesis  to  Apocalypse, 
is  the  basis  of  revelation.  Because  transgressors  against 
their  Maker,  Moses,  the  Prophets,  the  Apostles  pro- 
nounce all  men  guilty.  Law  and  Gospel  are  void  and 
meaningless  without  that  grand  announcement — "In  the 
beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth".  It 
gives  law  to  the  universe.  On  it  are  pillared  together 
the  throne  and  the  cross  of  Christ. 

If  our  Bible  opens  with  a  fundamental,  universal  and 
eternal  truth,  how  serious  to  dim  or  hide  it  in  the  mists 
of  poetical  legend !  He  errs  frightfully  who  sweeps 
away  the  foundations  of  obligation.  The  Assyrian 
Pantheon  mingles  many  fabled  deities  in  its  world- 
building.  Sar  is  a  god.  The  sun  is  a  god.  The  moon 
is  a  god.  The  earth  is  a  god.  These  with  their  brothers 
and  sisters,  manufacture  the  All.  Not  less  contemptible 
the  myths  of  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome.     After  the  Bib- 


lical  record  of  the  first  great  facts  of  creation,  introduce 
this  puerile,  idolatrous  nonsense !  You  discredit  all 
Scripture.  You  annul  obligation.  You  make  salvation 
myth.  Science  would  turn  with  justifiable  disgust  from 
a  legend  in  which  figured  Bel,  and  Isis,  and  Saturn,  and 
a  thousand  other  brother-gods,  as  creators  of  our 
universe. 

Whatever  contradicts  an  established  law  of  nature 
can  not  be  true.  If  God  be  author  of  Creation  and  Rev- 
elation, Scripture  and  Science  must  harmonize.  Differ- 
ence proves  one  false.  Hence  the  transcendent  import- 
ance of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  Irreconcilable  with 
laws  of  Photology  and  Geology  and  Astronomy,  it  can 
not  be  the  basis  of  a  scheme  of  salvation.  On  its 
creation-history  stands  or  falls  the  Bible. 

Only  since  Copernicus  has  the  interpretation  of 
Moses  been  possible.  False  views  of  nature  would 
intrude  into  explanations  of  Scripture.  For  three  thou- 
sand years  exegesis  was  colored  and  distorted  by  the 
ignorance  of  the  age  and  the  prejudice  of  the  writer. 
Augustine  saw  clearly  that  the  creative  days  of  Moses 
were  not  solar,  but  he  could  not  determine  their  work, 
and  veiled  his  guesses  in  high-sounding  and  mysterious 
expressions.  Science  has  discovered  laws  of  the  uni- 
verse unknown  to  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  and 
Reformation  Theologians.  She  -has  revolutionized  our 
views  of  creation.  Let  us  see  if  her  new  and  larger 
light  illuminates  passages  of  Scripture  previously  and 
inevitably  inexplicable. 

Conclusions  of  Science  in  Our  Own  Time 
i.  Worlds  are  formed  by  rotations  of  nebulous  mat- 
ter diffused  through  space. 
2.  Science   resolves  the   matter  of  the  universe  into 
numerous  proved  and  tabulated  elements. 


3.  Light  is  not  an  emission  from  bodies,  but  an  ether 

pervading  creation  and  which  we  call  Photogen. 

4.  Geology  affirms  that  the  age  of  our  globe  is  mil- 

lions of  years. 

Admitting,  as  inductively  proved,  these  conclusions, 
we  proceed  to  inquire  how  they  harmonize  with  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Bible. 

"In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth". 

Without  regard  to  times  and  modes  this  is  a  simple 
affirmation,  that  the  Omnipotent  made  His  universe, 
and  hence  has  over  it  that  personal  sovereignty  which 
is  the  foundation  of  Scripture. 

From  the  creation  of  all,  Moses  passes  to  the  forma- 
tion of  earth.  Here,  too,  the  statement  is  in  the  most 
general  terms.     Seasons  and  methods  are  not  specified. 

"And  the  earth  was  formless  and  void,  and  darkness 
was  on  the  face  of  the  abyss.  And  the  Spirit  of  God 
brooded  on  the  face  of  the  waters" . 

Here  is  a  narration  of  Scripture  precisely  pictured  by 
Science.  Her  nebular  hypothesis  gives  a  perfect  illus- 
tration. On  some  clear  night  turn  your  telescope  to 
Andromeda !  You  see  light-patches  like  clouds.  In 
many  regions  of  the  sky  you  observe  similar  appear- 
ances. Nebulous  globes  ;  planet-like  disks ;  vast  spirals ; 
stellar  maelstroms,  come  into  you  view.  Under  the 
Southern  heavens  you  would  see  the  Magellanic  clouds. 
You  have  learned  what  modern  astronomy  means  by 
nebulae.  Thousands  are  known  and  mapped  by  ob- 
servers. Science  tells  you  that  you  have  been  gazing 
on  the  magazines  of  primitive  matter.  Your  eye  has 
been  noting  the  storehouses  of  the  elements  of  the 
worlds  of  a  universe.  Recent  observations  confirm  the 
speculations    of    Science.      Nebulae    have    been    found 


about  an  illuminating  center,  like  a  nascent  star,  which 
will  become  the  sun  of  a  system. 

Conceive  now  in  space  a  vast  gaseous  mass !  It  ro- 
tates. Our  earth  is  flung  off  from  a  center  which  will 
be  our  sun.  Before  rounding  into  a  globe  this  world 
was  a  dark,  whirling,  misshapen  expanse  of  nebulae. 
How  accurately  described  by  our  Bible  is  this  black, 
dreary  immensity  in  space !  "The  earth  was  formless 
and  void,  and  darkness  was  on  the  face  of  the  abyss". 

The  word  mayim,  in  the  seventh  verse,  means  clouds. 
Although  not  so  translated  it  has  a  similar  signification 
in  other  parts  of  Scripture.  But  the  Latin  equivalent 
for  clouds  is  nebulae.  The  Hebrew  is  not  moved  but 
brooded.  Over  the  nebulous  abyss  was  the  Eternal 
Spirit,  quickening  life  as  a  bird  on  its  nest  with  the 
warmth  of  its  breast.  Penetrating  those  immeasurable 
midnight  solitudes  of  rotating  elements,  presided  an 
Alniighty  Wisdom  infusing  the  potencies  and  possi- 
bilities of  vegetable  and  animal  organisms  predestined 
to  support  man,  and  beautify  our  world,  millions  of 
years  before  its  habitable  conditions. 

Having  in  the  first  verse  of  the  Bible  described  the 
formation  of  the  universe,  and  in  the  second,  of  our 
world,  the  historian  proceeds  to  unfold  the  order  in 
which  all  was  created.  Before  this  can  be  understood 
we  must  fix  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  Qi\ 
translated,  "day"  ;  and  it  is  most  elastic  in  its  significa- 
tion. In  its  first  use  by  Moses  "day"  may  be  a  moment 
or  an  eternity.  Light  he  calls  "day".  Where  light  is 
there  is  "day".  An  instant  of  light  is  an  instant  of  "day" 
and  an  eternity  of  light  is  an  eternity  of  "day".  In  its 
extent  the  word  is  indefinite.  Next,  we  have  "evening 
was  and  morning  was,  day  one".  According  to  the  old 
and  universal  construction,  here  "day"  was  twenty-four 

8 


hours  in  duration.  But  afterwards  the  sun  was  made 
to  rule  the  "day",  which  is  therefore  only  part  of  twenty- 
four  hours.  And  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis 
Moses  gives  yet  a  fourth  meaning-.  He  extends  the 
word  to  the  whole  period  of  creation,  which  Science 
assures  occupied  cycles.  In  Scripture  qV,  "day",  may 
be  a  part  or  the  whole  of  twenty-four  hours ;  a  life ;  a 
reign ;  an  age ;  an  era :  an  eternity. 

In  Mosaic  history  each  "day"  is  a  cycle.  This  is  re- 
corded in  its  beginning.  Its  creative  work  finished,  the 
results  may  run  on  forever.  Science  makes  clear  what 
Augustine  saw  in  mist.  Yet,  rising  above  the  ignorance 
of  his  age,  and  the  misinterpretations  of  the  Church, 
his  genius  styles  the  creative  periods,  not  the  mere 
"diurnal  vicissitudes  of  the  heavens"  but  "ineffable 
days",  "natures",  "births",  "growths",  "solemn  pauses 
in  the  Divine  work  "—general  terms  of  mystic  import, 
gropings  after  truth  for  which  his  times  were  not  pre- 
pared, and  which  Science  must  discover  before  the 
Mosaic  narrative  of  creation  could  be  explained. 

Here  we  may  pause  to  consider  the  stupendous  work 
of  the  narrator  in  Genesis.  His,  the  description  of  the 
creation  of  a  universe ;  of  its  original  elements  in  the 
infinity  and  eternity  of  their  combinations ;  of  our  earth 
with  its  light  and  atmosphere,  and  continents,  its  seas 
and  lakes  and  rivers  and  oceans  and  islands  and  moun- 
tains ;  of  its  varied  vegetable  and  animal  life  ascending 
into  man  of  all  the  visible  monarch ;  its  illumination  by 
sun  and  moon  and  innumerable  stars  sparkling  through 
the  solitudes  of  immensity.  And  Moses  himself  ignor- 
ant of  those  laws  of  atoms  and  worlds,  it  was  reserved 
for  Science  to  discover !  He,  with  all  mankind,  believed 
he  saw  luminous  bodies  streaming  forth  their  brilliant 
particles.     Did  not  his  eye  behold  lamp  and  moon  and 


star  and  sun  emitting  rays?.  He  witnessed  the  heavens 
revolving  around  the  earth.  Our  globe  too  seemed  a 
flat  continuity  of  surface.  Yet  in  all  this  Moses  and 
Humanity  were  mistaken.  Light  is  not  an  emission, 
but  an  undulation.  The  sun  does  not  move  around  the 
earth,  but  the  earth  moves  round  the  sun.  Our  world 
is  not  a  plain,  but  a  globe.  Having  no  guide  but  his 
sight,  Moses  had  to  accept  the  testimony  of  his  eyes. 
Yet,  in  his  narration,  in  no  single  word  does  he  commit 
himself  to  his  own  false  theory,  which  was  a  popular 
error  in  all  ages,  and  in  all  races  and  in  all  regions  until 
a  recent  period.  However,  the  argument  is  more  than 
negative.  It  has  a  positive  aspect.  Moses  in  his  his- 
tories was,  indeed,  saved  from  his  own  personal  errors, 
and  those  of  humanity.  More !  The  truths  of  modern 
Geology  and  Astronomy  alone  explain  his  writings. 
Science  is  the  key  to  Genesis. 

Let  us  now  trace  in  their  order  the  yamim — days,  or 
cycles — of  Moses. 

The  First  Cycle  of  Creation 

uGod    said rig — Light    be.    and    light    was.      And 

evening  was  and  morning  was:  day  one". 

Until  within  a  half  century  the  difficulty  of  these 
verses  was  insuperable.  Always  light  had  been  con- 
sidered particles  emitted  from  luminous  bodies.  But 
in  our  first  cycle  light  is  before  bodies.  Particles  pre- 
suming bodies  could  not  exist  previously  to  bodies.  The 
Bible  was  express  contradiction  to  a  theory  of  light 
universally  received.  If  opinion  be  right  Moses  is 
wrong.  Moreover,  the  sun  was  believed  to  be  the  prime 
source  of  light.  Yet  in  Genesis  light  existed  three  days 
before  the  sun.  Then  without  a  sun  three  solar  days! 
Nor    did    evening   and    morning    describe    three    solar 

10 


days.  Of  solar  days  they  were  only  brief  beginnings 
and  endings.  Ignorance  made  all  mist  and  puzzle.  Yet 
the  old  explanation  was  universally  received,  and  ab- 
surdly impossible.  Light  is  a  luminiferous  ether  per- 
vading the  universe.  More  accurately,  this  Photogen 
is — Light-begetter.  Its  undulations  produce  vision. 
Measured  and  tabulated,  its  waves  seem  proved  facts. 
But  in  light  are  also  heat  and  magnetism,  and  all  the 
forms  of  electrical  force.  Science  clears  our  sky,  and 
is  now  speculating  whether  Photogen  is  not  the  ultimate 
of  all  elements  into  which  the  whole  universe  may  be 
resolved — the  sum  and  source  of  the  all  in  matter,  and 
the  bond  between  it  and  mind.  Its  creation  was  the 
suitable  beginning  of  the  first  Cycle  Day.  For  ages  it 
may  have  been  advancing  to  the  perfection  of  its  soli- 
tary unmanifested  glory.  Times  and  seasons  were  left 
for  Science  to  discover  by  those  rational  methods  which 
develop  and  expand  the  intellect  of  man. 

The  command  of  God  recorded  by  Moses  was  con- 
sidered by  the  cultured  ancients  as  the  grandest  speci- 
men of  the  sublime.  We  recall  our  own  boyhood, 
puzzled  and  delighted  by  the  obscurities  of  Longinus. 
For  his  noblest  illustration  of  the  sublime  in  writing, 
this  cultured  genius  turned  from  the  Greek  of  Homer 
to  the  Hebrew  of  Moses.  And  its  or — light — in  the 
essence  of  the  word  exactly  expresses  the  Photogen  of 
Science.  In  the  original  of  Scripture,  once  excepted,  it 
has  no  plural,  and  in  this  single  instance  it  is  poetically 
used.  Its  indivisibility  represents  unity.  Hence  or  is 
the  opposite  of  meoroth,  "lights",  employed  by  Moses  to 
denote  multiplicity  in  sun  and  moon  and  stars.  Apart 
from  bodies  light  had  never  been  conceived.  Before 
bodies  it  was  deemed  impossible.  Yet,  in  Genesis,  an- 
terior to  bodies,  we  have  a  word  precisely  describing 

II 


the  Photogen  of  Modern  Science,  incapable  of  plurality, 
a  symbol  of  unity ;  therefore  intimating  the  indivisibility 
of  that  first  created  substance  which  induction  may  yet 
prove  the  ultimate  of  all  matter,  itself  unseen,  while 
robing  the  universe  and  revealing  it  to  wondering  intel- 
lect in  its  visible  glory. 

While  "evening"  and  "morning"  invert  our  modern 
conceptions  of  a  proper  beginning  and  ending  of  a  day, 
and  are  only  portions  of  the  whole,  yet  in  their  order 
they  well  describe  cycles  commencing  in  a  twilight  im- 
maturity and  advancing  through  dawn  to  a  noon  of 
perfection.  Photogen  long  existed  without  manifesta- 
tion. Xow,  by  the  rotations  of  nebulous  particles,  it  is 
first  flashed  into  visibility.  Science  informs  us  that  our 
own  planets,  with  their  satellites,  were  once  flaming 
globes  revolving  about  the  sun,  itself  a  central  sphere 
of  fire.  In  our  system  began  a  first  day  of  light.  And 
such  may  be  the  order  of  the  universe.  All  through 
space  are  suns  as  sands  and  leaves  innumerable.  Sci- 
ence has  photographed  a  hundred  million.  Many  by 
their  size  and  blaze  would  dwarf  and  dazzle  our  own 
king  of  day.  Yet  all  together,  in  universal  splendor, 
perpetuate  and  celebrate  the  Primal  Light-Cycle  of 
Creation. 

Gross  matter  proceeding  from  pure  spirit  is  to  philos- 
ophy a  puzzling  conception.  Matter  and  spirit  seem 
irreconcilable  entities.  Ye£  matter  and  spirit,  eternal 
opposites,  are  united  in  our  own  human  personality. 
Accepting  the  fact,  we  can  not  explain  the  mystery. 
However,  we  are  satisfied  and  gratified  by  the  harmony 
of  the  order  of  Genesis  in  its  prime  manifestations  from 
the  causative  Divine  Spirit  of  matter  as  an  effect  in 
that  subtle  and  refined  and  exquisite  Photogen,  suitably 

12 


and  worthily  first  from  God,  and,  in  Scripture,  made 
the  visible  symbol  of  His  glory. 

Nor,  in  the  magnitude  and  munificence  of  scientific 
discovery,  must  we  forget  the  benefits  she  amplifies  and 
multiplies  to  intelligence.  Billions  of  years  since,  in  the 
evening  infancy  of  that  solitary  Cycle,  light  was  form- 
ing to  be  adapted  to  my  eye,  as  my  eye  is  now  adapted 
to  light.  Incalculable  ages  ago  light  and  eye  were  con- 
trived for  each  other  on  mechanical  and  mathematical 
principles  only  accurately  known  within  our  own  times. 
Separated  by  cycles,  light  and  eye  were  embraced  in  the 
plan  of  an  omniscient  wisdom.  Nor  was  the  prescience 
confined  to  man.  Not  forgotten  even  a  tiny  insect  glit- 
tering out  its  little  hour !  Ages  before  its  use  a  beam 
was  contrived  to  furnish  light  and  heat  to  billions  of 
beings,  in  quantity  so  exact  that  an  infinitesimal  mistake 
would  have  made  vision  impossible,  and  existence  a 
failure,  and  the  worlds  uninhabitable.  Down  through 
illimitable  time  the  Almighty  planned  to  paint  on  the 
retina  of  my  eye  a  picture  no  larger  than  my  thumb- 
nail, and  image  to  my  mind  the  beauties  of  the  earth 
and  the  glories  of  innumerable  worlds  sparkling  over 
the  universe. 

The  Second  Cycle  of  Creation 

In  interpreting  Scripture  Science  gives  us  further  aid. 
From  a  day  of  light  we  pass  to  a  day  of  air — Cycle 
Second  of  Creation. 

In  explaining  this  period  we  are  confronted  with 
mistranslations  arising  from  the  imperfections  of  lan- 
guage. The  Septuagint,  stereoma;  the  Vulgate,  firma- 
m.entum;  the  firmament  of  our  own  Bible,  imply  solid- 
ity. Greek  and  Latin  and  English  have  a  meaning  for- 
eign to  the  Hebrew.     Its  ypn  signifies  simply  expanse. 

*3 


By  it  no  solidity  is  expressed.  The  word  accurately 
describes  the  atmosphere  encircling  our  globe.  Poet 
and  Hebraist,  Milton  calls  it  "expanse  of  liquid  air". 
To  the  Second  Cycle-Day  was  assigned  a  long  enor- 
mous work.  Science  lifts  its  veil,  and  shows  its  meth- 
ods and  results.  For  ages  gases  and  vapors  generated 
by  its  fires  were  diffused  around  our  earth.  A  Cycle  of 
tremendous  energies  reduced  our  atmosphere  to  its 
present  condition.  Our  revolving  globe  carries  round 
with  it  an  aerial  ocean.  Change  the  proportions  and 
gravities  of  its  Oxygen,  Nitrogen  and  Carbonic  acid, 
and  you  bring  death  into  every  sphere  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life.  Slight  alterations  of  its  present  con- 
stituents would  make  a  man  a  corpse  or  a  lunatic.  Ages 
before  their  existence  air  was  adapted  to  the  leaves  of 
vegetables  and  the  lungs  of  animals.  Exquisitely  deli- 
cate its  mechanical  and  chemical  adjustments  to  in- 
numerable beings  infinitely  different  in  their  organisms ! 
By  it  the  eagle  breathes  and  soars.  Wren  and  fly  and 
limpet  have  their  minute  portions.  Animal  tribes  enjoy 
what  is  necessary  for  successful  existence.  Requiring 
little,  creatures  in  the  abysses  of  the  ocean  breathe  and 
swim  with  all  they  need.  On  the  Alpine  snow-line,  and 
in  the  polar  solitude,  each  struggling  plant  is  not  or- 
phaned beyond  a  paternal  care.  All  the  glory  of 
tropical  vegetation,  from  the  maternal  atmosphere,  is 
elaborated  according  to  chemical  laws  instituted  in  the 
morning  of  our  world,  and  now  discovered  by  man  who 
lives  and  works  in  the  atmosphere  he  analyzes. 

The  Third  Cycle  of  Creation 

The  Third  Cycle-Day  of  Scripture  is  also  explained 
by  Science.  Geology  teaches  us  that  the  flames  of  our 
burning  globe  combined  its  elements  into  gaseous  vapors. 

14 


Ocean  succeeded  fire.  Earth  was  surrounded  by  mists 
and  clouds.  Volcanic  forces  push  up  mountains  and 
sink  valleys.  Islands  and  continents  are  born.  Fire  and 
water  battle  for  furious  ages.  Emerging  from  this 
chaos  our  world  assumes  the  appearance  we  now  see 
on  our  maps.  And  during  this  cycle,  in  the  maternal 
soil  of  this  primitive  planet,  are  formed  the  seeds  from 
which  spring  all  vegetable  life. 

In  the  stupendous  work  of  this  Third  Scripture  Day 
Science  reveals  to  us  a  far-reaching  wisdom.  'Asia,  and 
Africa,  and  Europe,  and  America,  with  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  isles,  are  not  blindly  taking  shape.  No  earth- 
quake heaves  by  chance  the  smallest  coral  reef  that 
gems  the  ocean.  For  a  purpose  Alps  and  Andes  and 
Himalayas  pile  themselves  into  heaven.  Under  pre- 
scient guidance  glaciers  curve  graceful  valleys  amid 
encircling  hills.  In  land  and  sea  and  air  wild  energies 
force  and  flame  and  freeze  with  design.  Each  atom 
does  its  appointed  work.  Law  is  supreme  in  chaos.  Our 
world  wisely  shapes  for  man,  its  future  lord.  For  his 
needs,  after  light  and  air,  water  must  be  provided.  His 
ocean-reservoir  covers  three-fourths  of  his  habitation. 
Yet  no  waste !  All  will  be  required  for  the  vegetable 
and  animal  life  of  a  world.  But  its  water  is  brine, 
unsuited  to  our  human  wants.  Evaporation  solves  the 
difficulty.  From  ocean  the  sun  takes  aloft  his  vapors 
which  leave  the  salt  below,  so  that  the  clouds  drop  dis- 
tilled waters  to  vivify  and  refresh.  Also  this  Third 
Cycle  has  in  its  view  other  necessities  of  man.  It  pro- 
vides iron  for  his  machines  ;  coals  for  his  homes  and  his 
factories  ;  trees  for  his  buildings  and  ships ;  gold  for  his 
currency ;  soils  for  his  grains  and  fruits  for  his  enjoy- 
ment;  and  thus  furnishes  and  adorns  his  habitation 
ages  before  his  existence. 

15 


The  Fourth  Cycle  of  Creation 

Science  depicts  a  time  when  planets  were  globes  of 
flame  revolving  about  the  sun,  then  a  blazing  sphere. 
A  period  of  water  succeeds  ages  of  fire.  Our  atmos- 
phere is  filled  with  mist  and  smoke,  which  hide  the 
celestial  bodies.  While  invisible  they  can  not  rule  the 
day  and  night  and  fulfil  their  functions  for  signs  and 
seasons,  marking  days  and  months  and  years.  But  in 
the' protracted  elaborations  of  ages  a  time  arrives  when 
the  sky  is  no  longer  obscured  by  universal  mist.  The 
concealing  curtain  is  withdrawn !  What  a  glory  begins 
with  this  Fourth  Cycle !  It  reveals  that  central  globe 
of  light  and  heat  which  is  to  be  the  life  of  a  planet 
teeming  with  inhabitants.  Also  moon  and  stars  shine 
in  their  nightly  splendors.  Man  now  can  live  and  re- 
joice in  a  beneficent  universe.  Sublime  achievement  for 
the  Fourth  Cycle!  Its  magnificent  work  Science  alone 
explains.  To  construct  our  Park  Conservatory  required 
nice  care.  What  to  light  a  world !  Supply  must  be 
enormous,  regular  and  reliable.  From  poles  to  equator 
earth  is  to  be  carpeted  and  robed  with  verdure.  Arctic 
pines  and  tropical  vines  alike  look  upward  for  life. 
Light  and  heat  are  needed  for  birds  of  every  wing; 
fishes  of  every  fin :  beasts  of  every  size  and  shape ;  while 
cosmopolitan  man  requires  provision  for  minute  and 
numberless  wants.  A  million  of  miles  in  diameter,  our 
sun-furnace  supplies  all  its  rotating  globes.  On  our 
own  planet  each  blade  of  grass  has  a  paternal  oversight. 
Meadow  daisy  and  mountain  laurel  receive  their  portion. 
As  they  need,  all  animals  draw  life  from  the  sun  whose 
rays  are  joy  and  glory.  About  him  rush  his  spheres 
without  pause  or  interference,  where  the  delay  of  a 
moment  would  be  universal  ruin.     Whirling  by  imper- 


16 


ceptible  forces,  they  are  as  stable  in  their  effects  as  if 
they  were  pillars  of  the  firmament.  How  inestimable 
their  exactitude!  I  write  the  word  Neptune  I  When 
my  pen  stops,  that  planet  is  at  a  certain  place  in  its 
orbit.  In  one  hundred  and  sixty  of  our  years  from 
that  moment  in  which  I  finish  his  name,  Neptune  will 
be  at  the  same  point  of  revolution.  His  arrival  is  more 
precise  than  a  scheduled  train's  at  a  depot.  A  planet 
knows  no  wreck,  and  we  are  not  sure  of  a  locomotive ! 
•And  for  man  yon  heavens  form  a  clock.  His  celestial 
time-piece  is  more  accurate  than  his  terrestrial  chro- 
nometer. Yet  the  former  was  designing  when  the 
morning  stars  were  singing  the  anthem  of  their  crea- 
tion. Perhaps,  like  ourselves,  their  inhabitants  set  their 
watches  and  correct  their  almanacs  and  conduct  their 
business,  by  observations  of  worlds  sparkling  billions 
of  miles  from  the  homes  of  the  calculators. 

The  Fifth  Cycle  of  Creation 

With  its  provisions  of  light  and  air  and  water,  with 
its  suns  and  moons  and  stars  in  wheeling  systems ;  with 
its  infinite  forces  and  sovereign  laws ;  with  its  subtle 
chemistries  and  magnificent  machineries,  yet  destitute 
of  life,  conceive  the  universe  a  sterile,  boundless  soli- 
tude !  All  then  is  waste  of  resource  and  vacuity  of 
purpose.  Hence  even  the  creation  of  a  seed  capable  of 
growth  and  motion  was  an  advance,  and  a  relief  amid 
illimitable  monotony.  A  blade  of  grass  began  a  new 
era  of  stupendous  significance.  We  may  pause  a  mo- 
ment to  consider  its  wonders.  How  marvelous  that 
trees  and  plants  should  be  imperishable  by  self-produc- 
tion !  A  hickory  from  its  nut !  An  oak  from  its  acorn ! 
A  California  pine  from  its  pigmy  seed !  All  the  vege- 
table glory  of  a  world  in  those  insignificant  germs  of 

17 


the  Third  Cycle  which  were  to  robe  and  beautify  a 
planet !  It  was  for  Science  to  reveal  these  wonders  of 
soil  and  sun  and  air  and  root  and  branch  and  circulation 
and  bud  and  blossom  and  fruitage.  Yet  all  these  are 
surpassed  by  our  Fifth  Cycle.  With  organism  and 
vitality  and  reproduction,  vegetables  are  rooted  to  a 
spot.  To  them  is  denied  voluntary  motion.  Uncon- 
scious they  sway  to  the  wind  which  waves  their  limbs 
and  leaves.  Our  Fifth  Cycle  rises  to  a  life  with  intel- 
lection and  will.  By  choice  the  bird  spreads  its  wings 
and  warbles  its  songs.  It  builds  its  nest  with  skill.  It 
teaches  its  young  with  intelligence.  It  glows  with 
parental  love.  Even  the  fly  directs  its  own  motions. 
With  a  purpose  animalculse  whirl  in  a  waterdrop.  If 
we  can  not  prove  evolution  of  species  from  species,  we 
yet  discover  a  progression  in  which  Scripture  and  Sci- 
ence can  harmonize;  and  where  man  completes  and 
crowns  the  glory  of  the  Fifth  Cycle  by  his  perfection  in 
the  Sixth  of  the  Sublime  Mosaic  history  of  the  Creation. 

The  Sixth  Cycle  of  Creation 

I  have  studied  protoplasm.  I  have  examined  Dar- 
winism. I  have  reflected  on  the  evolution  of  man  from 
monkey.  I  have  read  and  heard  the  sneers  and  jeers  of 
those  who  make  mock  and  scorn  of  the  Scriptural  his- 
tory of  the  origin  of  our  race.  I  am  familiar  with  the 
imagery  of  Paradise  Lost.  I  have  seen  the  works  of 
the  masters  of  painting  and  sculpture — the  Vatican 
Apollo ;  the  Florentine  Venus ;  the  San  Pietro  Moses — 
ideals  of  masculine  beauty  and  feminine  grace.  Yet,  on 
its  proofs,  believing  my  Bible  to  be  the  work  of  God  by 
means  of  inspired  men,  corresponding  to  this  divine 
origin,   for  me  it  transcends  all  human   genius  in  the 

18 


simple  sublimity  of  its  narrative  of  the  creation  of  the 
father  and  mother  of  our  race. 

Adam  from  dust !  From  the  hand  of  the  Maker  of 
the  universe  that  first  human  form  must  worthily  repre- 
sent omniscience  and  omnipotence.  It  is  then  an  ideal 
of  grace  and  beauty  and  movement  and  power.  A  per- 
fect human  body  !  Not  in  stone,  but  in  flesh !  Instead 
of  mindless,  sightless,  motionless  sterility  in  marble, 
here  we  have  muscle,  heart,  nerve,  brain !  Billions  of 
life-building  corpuscles,  so  minute  as  to  be  invisible 
until  revealed  to  a  future  modern  microscopist !  Infinite 
and  exquisite  contrivance  in  mechanical  and  chemical 
relations  to  air  and  earth  and  sun,  and  only  made  known 
to  the  induction  of  thousands  of  years  of  subsequent 
research !  Calculated  laws  of  force  and  gravity  by 
which  the  hand  will  grasp,  the  foot  run,  and  the  brain 
toil !  Blind  yet  as  death,  in  that  eye  of  Adam  are  slum- 
bering potencies  of  a  vision  which  will  soon  scan  earth 
and  heaven,  according  to  laws  which  his  children  will 
discover  in  dim  and  distant  after-centuries !  His  stiff 
fingers  will  move  with  a  pliant  skill,  to  be  educated  in 
his  remote  descendants  for  the  creation  of  steamships 
and  locomotives  and  telephones  and  telescopes,  beyond 
the  dreams  and  achievements  even  of  Paradise.  His 
still  ear  will  wake  to  the  music  of  a  universe.  His 
sealed  lip  will  open  with  the  eloquence  of  truth  and 
love.  Each  faculty  and  limb  and  organ  will  prove  an 
instrument  to  beautify  and  rule  a  world. 

Directly  from  a  Divine  artist  lifeless  Adam  exceeds 
in  grace  and  majesty  all  the  ideals  immortalized  by  the 
genius  of  a  Praxiteles  or  an  Angelo.  But  the  supreme 
work  remains  impossible  to  human  or  angelic  art.  Breath 
of  God  creates  the  soul  of  man.  Now  stir  in  him  appe- 
tite, desire,  perception,  passion,  affection,  imagination, 

19 


volition.  King  of  all,  Reason,  wakes  to  find  and  adore 
its  Maker.  Behold  completed  a  personal,  conscious, 
inquiring,  progressing  manhood,  approved  by  Him  who 
created  a  Phidias  and  a  Raphael !  Adam  rises  monarch 
of  earth  !  Fit  from  his  side,  Eve  !  Her  origin,  a  symbol 
of  that  love  between  man  and  woman  which  best  pic- 
tures our  supreme  willing,  affectionate  devotion  to  Je- 
hovah, Creator  of  heaven  and  earth!  Reproduction  in 
Adam  and  Eve,  a  glory  surpassing  that  of  sterile  angels ! 
Crown  of  world-work,  behold  two  beings,  responsive  in 
body  and  soul,  with  inexpressible  delicacy  of  adapta- 
tion ;  one  and  yet  opposite ;  identical  in  interest  and  dif- 
ferent in  constitution ;  commingling  lives  without  con- 
fusing personalities ;  fragility  supported  by  a  strength 
it  increases ;  courage  confirmed  by  tenderness ;  mascu- 
line virtue  refined  by  feminine  grace ;  two  natures 
united  to  people  Earth  and  Heaven  with  immortal  pos- 
terities capable  of  everlasting  progress ! 

And  while  Science  interprets  Scripture,  she  deepens 
and  widens  sabbatic  obligation.  Her  splendid  deduc- 
tions, in  the  mild  radiance  of  their  eternal  truth,  are  not 
dazzled  by  the  lightnings  of  Sinai,  which  hallowed  and 
enforced  observance  of  a  seventh  day  of  rest  for 
humanity.  A  few  brief  fragments  of  diurnal  time  no 
longer  dwarf  my  views  of  the  command  of  the  Sover- 
eign of  the  universe.  Creation-Days  now  for  me  are 
Cycles.  Billions  of  years  impress  my  duty  of  sabbatic 
obedience,  which  has  thus  the  seal  of  the  Infinite  and 
the  Everlasting. 


20 


II. 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE. 


Our  age  presents  a  strange  spectacle.  Amid  its  ma- 
terialisms many  most  excellent  and  intelligent  persons 
are  ardent  believers  in  physical  miracles.  Bodily  heal- 
ings, they  claim,  are  at  their  command  by  supernatural 
power.  We  do  not  propose  to  sift  the  proofs  of  this 
faith.  Our  aim  is  merely  to  show  the  prime  defects  of 
the  new  cult  considered  as  a  religion. 

Beneath  our  human  nature  is  its  sense  of  guilt.  At 
the  root  of  his  being  each  man  feels  that  there  is  some- 
thing wrong.  To  this  universal  consciousness  is  the 
first  appeal  of  any  satisfying  religion.  In  fear  and  im- 
potency ;  amid  change  and  death ;  awed  by  the  vastness 
of  the  universe  and  the  shadow  of  eternity,  humanity, 
an  importunate,  erring  mortality,  cries,  often  blindly 
and  stupidly,  for  Remission.  Heathenism  itself  ex- 
presses man's  need.  Over  earth  and  time  she  erects  her 
altars.  She  gives  life  for  sin.  Her  knife  and  fire  de- 
stroy animal  property  for  atonement.  Mortal  fear  over- 
comes mortal  greed.  Rivers  of  blood  flow  in  propitia- 
tion. Flames  of.  sacrifice  have  made  lurid  our  world. 
They  indeed  witness  a  blind  and  pitiable  superstition; 

21 


but  they  also  lift  the  veil  from  human  nature,  and  in  its 
heart  show  an  overmastering  demand. 

This  universal  want  in  man  Christian  Science  over- 
looks in  its  zeal  and  search  for  bodily  cure.  The  aim  of 
its  literature  is  not  remission.  I  find  only  a  professed 
system  of  physical  relief,  and  not  of  spiritual  restoration. 
This  reverses  Scripture.  Our  Bible  assumes  our  guilti- 
ness. It  begins  in  conscience.  It  offers  remission.  It 
conforms  thus  to  the  nature  of  man.  Moses  founded 
his  system  on  sacrifice,  perpetuated  through  tabernacle 
and  temple  to  Messiah  Who,  perfect  in  will  and  word 
and  work,  is  a  moral  model  for  a  universe,  and  Who 
saves  us,  not  by  his  character  but  by  his  blood.  Law 
and  Gospel  witness  the  necessity  of  blood  for  propitia- 
tion and  remission.  Blood  feeds,  and  hence  symbolizes, 
life.  Pain  is  only  an  incident  of  life — a  brief  thrill,  then 
a  fading  memory.  Life  is  the  transcendent  gift,  of 
which  pain  is  an  accident.  The  spot  which  marks  the 
end  of  life  we  view  with  awe.  One  red  drop,  one  mortal 
stain,  one  faint  trace  left  by  years  will  fix  the  eye  and 
dwell  in  the  soul.  In  fly  and  eagle,  in  ant  and  lion,  in 
limpet  and  whale,  life  is  that  inscrutable  power  which 
impresses  reason  and  excites  imagination,  and  thrills 
sensibility,  more  than  all  the  phenomena  of  a  dead  uni- 
verse. Scripture  follows  nature  and  makes  life  pro- 
pitiation. The  Divine  Lamb  without  blemish,  expiring, 
suffered.  Yet  not  his  pain  nor  his  perfection  was  his 
atonement.  This  was  His  blood  as  His  life,  given  for 
man,  and  made  of  infinite  worth  by  His  Godhead. 
Hence,  amid  all  its  divisions,  Christendom  unites  on 
Calvary. 

To  us  who  hold  on  conviction  the  old  faith,  the  sad- 
dest spectacle  of  our  age  is  this  intelligent,  respectable, 
hungering  multitude,  who,  seeking  relief  from  temporal, 

22 


transient  human  ills,  follow  wavering  and  glimmering 
lights,  doubtful  as  ghostly  luminosities  fancied  hover- 
ing over  graves;  and  who  are  thus  turned  away  from 
that  restful  and  satisfying  salvation  that  comes  from 
the  dying,  risen,  ascended  and  glorified  Redeemer.  We 
would  call  them  back  to  Calvary.  The  humiliation  of 
its  Cross  does  not  hide  the  glory.  A  dying  man  is  our 
Incarnate  God.  In  the  last  gasps  of  life  He  proves  His 
sovereign  Creatorship.  Jesus  expiring  is  Omnipotent. 
He  veils  the  skies  He  spread  and  the  sun  He  formed. 
He  shakes  the  world,  and  rends  the  rocks  He  laid  in 
her  foundations.  He  opens  graves  and  paradise,  show- 
ing that  His  pierced  hands  hold  the  keys  of  earth  and 
heaven.  From  His  cross  He  parts  the  veil  of  the  tem- 
ple, while  the  priest,  unconscious,  is  offering  to  Him  as 
Jehovah  the  evening  sacrifice. 

The  Supernatural,  as  transcending  the  natural  and 
material,  is  as  ineffaceable  a  factor  in  the  Bible  as  i? 
Remission  of  Sin.  Let  us  turn  to  the  writings  of  the 
oracle  of  Christian  Science.  Or  we  will  enter  a  temple 
filled  with  anxious  inquirers.  The  lecture  gives  us  a 
clew  to  the  cult.  It  occupies  itself  with  the  flesh.  Are 
prayers  for  healing  answered?  Who  present  are  wit- 
nesses to  our  miracles?  Shall  we  use  the  surgeon's 
knife  when  our  petitions  fail?  In  amputations  shall  we 
resort  to  anesthetics?  Interest  is  confined  to  the  cor- 
poreal organism.  Triumphs  of  supernatural  powers  are 
over  a  relieved  tooth ;  over  a  rheumatic  limb ;  over  an 
aching  and  even  a  bald  head ;  over  nervous  disturb- 
ances, rather  than  over  desperate  disease  and  disloca- 
tion. Our  assembly  fixes  attention  on  the  passing  ills 
of  the  body,  itself  soon  to  be  dust  in  darkness.  Flesh 
and  time  absorb  the  hour.  A  cloud  obscures  the  eternal. 
Amid  all  exercises   an  inevitable   doubt   spreads   from 

23 


the  temples  of  Christian  Science  bewildering  as  a 
mountain-mist. 

Reliable  faith  must  have  infallible  answer.  If  I  can 
not  by  prayer  restore  a  severed  limb ;  if  I  can  not  relieve 
a  deadly  cancer ;  if  I  can  not  overcome  a  consuming- 
leprosy,  I  can  not  be  accredited  with  power  over  lesser 
ills.  A  limitation  of  my  faith  is  confession  of  my  im- 
potency.  Unable  to  cure  all,  I  can  be  trusted  to  cure 
none.  And  able  to  cure  all,  I  can  stop  death  and  make 
man  immortal.  Here  Christian  Science  is  confronted 
with  all  the  analogies  of  nature  and  experiences  of 
mankind. 

Fossils  in  Laurentian  rocks  prove  that  cycles  since 
minute  millions  died.  Adam  died ;  Noah  died ;  Moses 
died ;  Prophets  died ;  Messiah  died ;  Apostles  died ;  He 
who  wrote  "the  prayer  of  faith  saves  the  sick"  himself 
died.  Since,  billions  have  died.  From  analogy  we  infer 
that  for  future  humanity  is  reserved  a  universal  doom. 
The  dust  of  all  the  generations  of  man  witnesses  his 
impotency  to  eliminate  disease,  triumph  over  death  and 
achieve  his  corporeal  immortality. 

But  here  arises  a  question  far  beyond  the  domain  of 
Christian  Science.  Our  inquiry  takes  a  wider  range. 
It  is  vital  to  our  age:  What  distinguishes  Bible  mir- 
acles from  all  other  claims  to  supernatural  power?  I 
will  attempt  a  discrimination. 

We  have  seen  that  Remission  of  sin  is  the  prime  gift 
promised  in  Scripture.  Old  Testament  and  New  make 
it  the  root-fact  in  every  human  life.  See  Moses  in  the 
encampment  of  Israel !  From  Jehovah,  Creator  of  the 
Universe,  he  offers,  through  priestly  sacrifice,  personal 
and  national  forgiveness.  He  commands  pain  and  death 
and  destruction  by  flames,  of  valuable  animal  property. 
No  rational  Jew  will   slay  and   burn  his  lamb  on  the 

24 


mere  word  of  his  fellow.  Remission  from  Jehovah  pre- 
sumes attestation  from  Jehovah  by  miracle  from  Jeho- 
vah. Without  proof  of  a  Divine  commission  Moses 
would  have  been  stoned  for  his  offer  and  Jiis  ordina- 
tion. Descending  glory  from  the  Almighty  Creator  on 
His  tabernacle  and  temple  visibly  witnessed  that  here 
He  remitted  sin  by  faith  in  priestly  sacrifice.  Not  thus 
attested  by  Himself  the  seat  of  His  sovereignty  in 
Israel  would  have  been  entitled  to  no  more  belief  than 
shrines  of  Baal,  or  Isis,  or  Moloch,  or  Athene,  or  Venus, 
or  Bacchus,  or  Jupiter. 

Our  Savior  also  promised  Remission  of  sin.  All  the 
miracles  of  His  ministry  are  signs  and  seals  of  His 
Divine  authority.  His  supreme  proof  is  His  Resurrec- 
tion. Here  are  opposed  to  Him  the  analogies  of  nature 
and  the  doom  of  humanity.  A  corpse  made  alive  con- 
tradicts the  established  order  of  our  world. 

But  life  is  a  fact  familiar  as  death.  I  prove  it  by  my 
senses.  Our  metropolis  swarms  with  busy  millions. 
They  live.  How  do  I  know?  They  move.  Not  like  a 
corpse  by  external  force,  as  those  electric  figures  flashed 
into  dazzling  activities  by  a  distant  dynamo.  Only  mo- 
tion from  within  proves  life.  When  I  see ;  when  I  hear ; 
when  I  touch ;  when  I  taste ;  when  I  smell ;  when  I 
walk;  when  I  talk,  I  live.  One  voluntary  lift  of  my 
finger  is  sufficient  proof.  A  child  knows  whether  its 
mother  is  alive  or  dead.  It  decides  on  the  evidence  of 
its  senses.  Society  is  based  on  our  credence  in  the 
senses.  Our  banks,  our  railroads,  our  telegraphs,  our 
telephones,  our  steamships  would  have  no  existence 
without  the  senses.  Humanity  would  be  an  impossi- 
bility without  the  senses.  Physical  Science  grounds  all 
its  discoveries  on  the  senses,  and  thus  harmonizes  with 
Christianity. 

25 


On  one  single,  simple  proof  to  eye  and  ear  and  touch, 
Reason  rests  her  faith  in  the  Resurrection  of  the  Re- 
deemer. Doctrine  may  be  inscrutable  where  evidence 
is  plain.  Deductions  of  Science  must  be  certain  al- 
though her  truths  exceed  comprehension.  As  before 
a  court  and  jury,  our  appeal  is  to  visible,  audible  and 
tangible  fact.  If,  after  death,  Jesus  moved  and  spoke 
and  ate,  He  lived.  Apostles  are  His  witnesses.  Does 
their  testimony  convince  my  Reason?  On  my  affirma- 
tive answer  to  that  question  depends  logically  my  own 
faith  in  Christ  as  a  personal  Savior,  and  in  Scripture  as 
His  divine  revelation  of  Himself.  And  I  can  speak 
only  for  myself.  For  nearly  sixty  years  I  have  tested 
the  Apostolic  witnesses  by  those  principles  of  evidence 
I  learned  as  a  lawyer  from  Blackstone  and  Starkie  and 
Greenleaf,  and  which  I  applied  in  the  trial  of  causes 
before  courts  and  juries.  To  my  reason  the  proofs  of 
their  ability  and  veracity  are  convincing  and  overwhelm- 
ing. To  the  testimony  of  the  Apostles  I  add  the  words 
of  our  Lord,  promising  and  predicting  His  own  resur- 
rection. I  study  His  character  and  apply  to  Him  every 
test  that  my  reason  can  suggest.  I  compare  Him  with 
all  the  other  billions  of  humanity.  He  alone  is  a  witness 
without  blemish.  He  alone  conquers  my  reason,  dis- 
solves prejudice,  and  overcomes  doubt.  In  Him  the 
moral  ideal  of  my  race  is  my  supreme  trust,  and  I 
accredit  Him  when  He  asserts  His  own  Resurrection. 
Outside  my  Bible,  all  other  witnesses  are  found  wanting 
in  those  infallible  proofs  which  give  the  sole  glory  of 
immutable  truth  to  the  testimony  of  the  Apostles,  and 
our  Lord. 

But  while  these  are  the  positive  arguments  convinc- 
ing my  reason,  there  is  also  a  negative  side  of  the  ques- 
tion which  should  not  be  overlooked. 

26 


Distinguished  modern  philosophers  affirm  that  nature 
is  inviolable  and  miracles  impossible.  Admit  these 
postulates,  and  Jesus  never  performed  any  miracles.  If 
He  knezv  that  He  never  performed  any  miracles  He 
was  a  supreme  impostor.  His  recorded  miracles  are 
beyond  our  computation.  Conscious  of  His  impotency, 
each  of  His  professed  miracles  is  a  fraud.  The  glory 
at  His  birth — fraud !  The  voice  at  His  baptism — 
fraud  !  His  conquered  temptation — fraud  Bartimeus 
restored — fraud  !  Loaves  and  fishes  multiplied — fraud  ! 
Lazarus  risen — fraud  !  Transfiguration — fraud  !  Agony 
— fraud !  Cross  and  resurrection  and  ascension,  each 
stamped  with  fraud.  Then  from  Bethlehem  to  Bethany 
Jesus  a  fraud ! 

But  if  nature  is  inviolable  and  miracles  are  impossible, 
and  Jesus  believed  that  He  performed  miracles,  He  is 
a  supreme  lunatic.  We  have  in  our  Asylums  deluded 
wretches  who  fancy  themselves  throned  and  sceptered 
over  empires.  Jesus  claimed  power  not  only  over  na- 
tions but  over  nature.  He  professed  authority  over  bil- 
low and  tempest ;  disease  and  death ;  earth  and  heaven. 
He  asserted  that  He  would  raise  humanity  from  the 
decay  of  the  grave.  He  made  Himself  the  Judge  of  our 
race,  with  title  to  award  everlasting  life  and  death.  A 
man  now  with  such  claims  would  be  consigned  to  an 
asylum.  We  thus  see  that  Jesus  was  either  an  impostor 
or  a  lunatic,  if  it  be  true  that  nature  is  inviolable  and 
miracles  impossible.  But  when  we  examine  the  charac- 
ter of  our  Lord  such  a  conclusion  is  absurd  and  mon- 
strous. My  keenest  scrutiny  proves  Him  an  incarnation 
of  Truth  ;  the  ideal  of  Holiness ;  the  model  of  Right- 
eousness for  a  universe  and  an  eternity  and  an  infallible 
witness  on  whose  testimony  I  believe  His  Resurrection. 
And  to  this  weight  of  evidence  I  add  thousands  of  years 

27 


of  prophecy  embracing  nations,  interpreting  history,  and 
illuminating  Messiah. 

Here  we  have  the  supreme  glory  of  the  Bible  miracles 
exalting  them  above  all  competition.  My  reason  accepts 
them  on  the  testimonies  of  my  Savior  and  His  Apostles. 
In  Gospels  and  Acts  and  Epistles  I  study  my  witnesses. 
As  a  judge  on  his  depositions  decides  questions  of  life 
and  property,  so  I,  in  the  records  of  Peter  and  John 
and  Matthew  and  Mark  and  Luke  and  Paul,  have  be- 
fore me  all  the  evidence  necessary  for  a  legal  opinion. 
Behind  these  are  the  Prophets.  Above  all  is  the  im- 
maculate and  majestic  Jesus.  Other  miracles  supported 
thus  I  would  believe.  But  my  reason  has  found  such 
marks  of  truth  in  my  Bible  only. 

Graduated  from  college  at  the  mature  age  of  seven- 
teen, I  aspired  to  master  Newton's  Principia  and  La 
Place's  Mechanique  Celeste  and  the  strange  methods  of 
Calculus.  A  year  of  study  chilled  my  youthful  zeal. 
I  am  as  unable  to  demonstrate  the  Copernican  System 
as  to  make  the  universe  it  explains.  Yet  I  believe  the 
principles  of  the  Copernican  System  while  my  proofs 
are  thin  as  air.  How  much  stronger  my  reasons  for 
my  faith  in  Scripture  than  my  acceptance  of  Science! 
My  Bible  is  ever  with  me.  I  have  its  testimonies  at 
my  command.  I  can  read  and  ponder  and  conclude. 
I  have  thus  a  faith  in  the  Resurrection  of  my  Lord  more 
rational  than  my  belief  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
universe. 

With  the  miracles  of  the  Bible  contrast  human  prodi- 
gies !  Too  often  they  bear  the  marks  of  ambitious  and 
avaricious  imposture.  Tested  by  legal  rules  they  prove 
fabrications  of  villains  or  delusions  of  visionaries. 
Bible  miracles  are  evolutions  of  a  venerable  system  ex- 
tending through  centuries,  each  performing  its  part  in 

28 


authenticating  revelation,  each  having  its  place,  each 
like  a  stone  in  an  edifice  giving  strength  to  the  majestic 
temple  of  truth.  After  intoxicating  the  fancies  of 
fanatics,  and  filling  the  pockets  of  villains  and  exciting 
the  stare  of  the  multitude,  works  of  fraud  and  super- 
stition pass  away.  Never  do  they  become  incorporated 
with  the  intellectual  development  of  humanity.  Mir- 
acles of  the  Bible  live.  Designed  chiefly  to  attest  Chris- 
tianity they  continue  to  enforce  its  moral  system ;  to 
guide  in  spiritual  experience,  and  illustrate  and  impress 
the  doctrines  of  our  salvation.  They  become  emblems 
of  faith  and  love  and  hope,  musical  in  song  and  beauti- 
ful in  art.  Immortal,  they  inspire  genius  and  symbolize 
the  eternal. 

In  its  proofs,  we  have  said,  Christianity  and  Science 
rest  on  the  senses.  Celestial  facts  come  to  Astronomy 
through  the  telescope.  To  the  eye  the  spectroscope 
proves  the  unity  of  the  universe.  In  retort  and  battery 
Chemistry  utilizes  touch  and  taste  and  smell.  Geology, 
Botany  and  Mineralogy,  with  a  sisterhood  of  studies, 
depend  wholly  on  observation. 

Christianity  in  her  miracles  anticipated  the  methods 
of  Science.  Through  the  senses  the  Almighty  evinces 
His  personal  sovereignty  of  creatorship.  He  breaks  the 
uniformity  of  nature  that  lulls  into  pantheistic  stupidity, 
and  interferes  with  that  mechanism  whose  uniform  per- 
fection is  an  opiate  to  faith.  Crown  of  all,  He  reveals 
His  sovereignty  of  Remission  by  commanding  earth 
and  heaven  from  His  Cross  and  in  His  Resurrection.  In 
Jesus  holiness  is  not  a  doctrine,  but  an  incarnation.  Im- 
mortality He  makes  a  visible  fact.  Her  types,  her 
promises,  her  prophecies  Christianity  verifies  to  the  eye 
in  the  person  of  Jesus.  Her  past,  her  present  and  her 
future  she  concentrates  on  a  person.     Her  magnificence 

29 


of  evidence  in  prediction  and  miracle,  like  a  firmament 
of  stars,  she  revolves  about  a  person.  Her  salvation  for 
soul  and  body  she  expresses  in  a  person.  All  her  celes- 
tial employments  are  inspired  by  a  person  crowned  with 
the  visible  glory  of  Godhead,  and  sceptered  over  the 
universe  He  created. 

When  the  canon  of  Scripture  closed  there  could  be 
never  again  proofs  of  miracles  equal  to  its  own.  In  all 
that  followed  must  be  wanting  those  marks  of  veracity 
found  in  our  witnessing  Lord  and  His  Apostles.  We 
descend  from  the  best  evidence  possible  to  the  infinitely 
inferior.  We  pass  from  the  Divine  to  the  human.  We 
take  our  steps  down  from  God  to  man. 

But  Old  Testament  and*  New  promise  a  power  tran- 
scending immeasurably  the  relief  of  mere  bodily  ail- 
ments. Our  Bibles  propose  perpetual  proofs  of  a  vital 
energy  to  be  exerted  over  human  souls  and  lives  which 
Christian  Science  overlooks.  Jesus  said  that  His  Disci- 
ples should  perform  "greater  works"  than  His  own. 
He  cleansed  a  leper.  What  could  be  greater?  He 
opened  the  eyes  of  Bartimeus.  What  could  be  greater? 
He  called  Lazarus  from  the  tomb.  What  could  be 
greater  ?  Transfiguration  !  Resurrection  !  Ascension  ! 
— What  could  be  greater?  I  answer:  Down  to  the  end 
of  time,  the  miracles  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  conver- 
sions of  humanity.  The  aim  of  Christianity  is  not  a 
physical  healing  of  perishable  bodies,  but  to  beautify 
earth  and  people  heaven  with  pure  souls. 

Lazarus  came  alive  from  the  tomb — but  he  died.  The 
eyes  of  Bartimeus  were  opened — but  he  died.  Lepers 
were  cleansed — but  they  died.  Blind  and  deaf  and 
dumb  and  halt  and  maimed  were  restored — but  they 
died.    Miracles  of  Jesus,  necessary  and  mighty  in  attest- 

3° 


ing  power,  were  transient  manifestation's  of  His  divine 
energy.  In  a  few  hours,  or  days,  or  years,  His  bodily 
restorations  expended  their  results.  The  eye  He 
opened ;  the  ear  He  unstopped  ;  the  tongue  He  loosed ; 
the  flesh  He  cleansed ;  the  corpse  He  made  alive — these 
and  all  His  mercies  to  the  flesh  ended  in  the  corruption 
of  death.  Each  was  for  that  little  span  before  a  grave. 
Our  work  is  eternal.  Its  subjects  are  not  bodies,  but 
\souls.  Its  aim  is  not  release  from  mortal  pain,  but 
spiritual  preparation  for  immortal  joy.  Its  end  is  ever- 
lasting salvation.  We  live  now,  not  under  a  dispensa- 
tion of  sense,  but  of  Spirit,  transcending,  as  eternity 
time,  all  merely  physical  and  transitory  miracles. 


Unfamiliar  with  ecclesiastical  history,  multitudes  sup- 
pose many  modern  movements  to  be,  as  they  claim, 
original.  Two  centuries  after  Christ  errancies  were 
ascribed  to  Scripture  that  might  startle  our  extremist 
hypercritics.  Before  A.  D.  231  the  Clementines  were 
written.  Almost  like  the  Imitation  of  Christ  and  the 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  these  Dialogues  attained  a  wide 
circulation.  After  two  centuries  of  universal  popularity 
they  were  translated  by  Rufinus  from  Greek  into  Latin. 
And  they  rose  to  their  highest  favor  when  disciples 
were  tested  by  sword  and  flame  in  the  martyrdoms  of 
the  Aurelian,  Decian  and  Diocletian  persecutions.  Yet 
these  Clementines  teach  "that  Scriptures  have  joined  to 
many  falsehoods"  and  have  "some  true  sayings  and 
some  spurious".  They  repudiate  Old  Testament  proph- 
ets ;  ridicule  Moses ;  insult  John  the  Baptist,  and  scorn 
and  discredit  Paul.  No  hyperergic  of  our  times  has 
shown  the  same  genius  of  picturing  eloquence  in  ridi- 
cule of  the  sacrificial  system.  Hear  their  irreverent 
skepticisms !      "Beware  of   thinking  otherwise   of   God 

3i 


than  that  He  is  the  only  God  and  Lord  and  Father  of 
the  righteous.  If  He  hardens  hearts,  who  makes  wise? 
If  He  makes  blind  and  deaf,  who  gives  sight  and  hear- 
ing? If  He  commands  pilfering,  who  administers  jus- 
tice? If  He  dwells  in  a  tabernacle,  who  is  without 
bounds?  If  He  is  fond  of  fat  and  sacrifice,  who  is 
holy?  If  He  dwells  in  shadow  and  darkness  and  storm 
and  smoke,  who  is  the  Light  that  brightens  the  uni- 
verse? If  He  is  pleased  with  candles  and  candlesticks, 
who  then  placed  the  luminaries  in  the  heavens?  If  He 
comes  with  trumpets  and  shoutings  and  darts  and  ar- 
rows, who  is  the  looked-for  Tranquility  of  all?  If  He 
loves  war,  who  wishes  peace"  ?  Voltaire  himself  could 
not  exceed  this  scorn  of  the  Clementines. 

In  Montanus  we  discover  that  exaggeration  of  physi- 
cal miracles  which  now  marks  Christian  Science.  Un- 
der the  New  Testament  temporary  attesting  signs  were 
succeeded  by  abiding  regenerating  power.  Yet  as  the 
life  of  faith  and  love  and  liberty  became  chilled  into 
dogma  and  formalism  and  ceremonial,  earnest  men 
sighed  for  the  freedom  and  purity  of  Apostolic  times. 
They  yearned  not  only  for  the  Pentecostal  conversion, 
but  for  the  Pentecostal  fire  and  the  Pentecostal  roar. 
Thus,  like  Christian  Science,  Montanism  descended 
from  Spirit  to  flesh  and  vanished  in  the  mists  of  ages. 

Humanity  always  and  everywhere  aspires  to  bodily 
restorations.  The  splendid  Augustine's  immortal  "City 
of  God"  is  spotted  with  credulity.  Painful  superstitions 
mar  the  eloquent  Chrysostom,  matchless  in  oratory,  yet 
a  magnifier  of  monstrous  prodigies.  Even  Ambrose  of 
Milan  has  clouded  his  name  and  fame  as  author  of  the 
"Te  Deum".  with  suspicion  of  manufactured  miracles. 
Relics  of  medieval  healings  piled  together  would  out- 
top  the  pyramid.     Thus  Christian  Science  repeats  the 

32 


old  story  of  all  nations  and  ages,  but  with  a  subtle  wis- 
dom hides  fanaticism  and  promotes  respect.  Science 
implies  induction,  and  Christian  suggests  sanctity;  and 
under  such  a  shrewd  combination,  adapted  to  our  times, 
has  flourished  a  movement  remarkable  as  Gnosticism, 
or  Manicheeism,  or  Montanism. 

Our  Lord  was  Omnipotent.  He  could  have  healed 
humanity.  He  could  have  abolished  disease,  arrested 
death  and  closed  the  portals  of  the  grave  and  turned 
earth  from  curse  to  paradise.  He  could  have  made 
hospitals  useless,  medicines  needless,  physicians  patient- 
less,  and  by  a  word  accomplished  for  mortals  that  uni- 
versal cure  for  which  Christian  Science  builds  her  tem- 
ples and  lavishes  her  treasures.  Yet  how  few  our  Lord 
relieved !  Pain  and  death  now  rule  our  race.  Why  did 
not  Jesus  exert  His  omnipotence  to  abolish  bodily  ail- 
ment and  corruption?  Because  He  had  an  end  tran- 
scendently  wiser  and  higher  and  nobler.  By  the  cure 
of  the  soul  He  sought  immortality  for  the  flesh.  His 
trump  of  resurrection  is  to  make  our  body  ideal.  When 
our  world  is  spiritually  prepared  it  will  be  transfigured 
into  an  everlasting  perfection  of  bliss  and  glory.  The 
wisdom  of  Jesus  went  to  the  root  of  the  disease  of  our 
humanity.  His  diagnosis  and  His  remedy  evidence  His 
omniscience.  Promised  Remission  and  His  Spirit  are 
His  salvation  for  time  and  eternity.  How  stupendous 
His  revolution  in  man!  It  makes  childish  Christian 
Science. 

To  illustrate  His  spiritual  re-creation  our  Savior  uses 
the  sublime  image  of  the  atmosphere.  It  enfolds  a 
world.  In  its  vast  circumference  how  mighty  its  in- 
visible movements  !  Home  of  the  tempest ;  birth-place 
of  the  cloud;  seat  of  the  lightning;  yet  for  man  a  maga- 
zine  of   illimitable   life!      This   quick,    powerful,    irre- 

33 


sistible  universal  air  is  a  symbol  of  that  Divine  Spirit 
hovering  over  humanity  with  a  ^regenerating  energy 
infinitely  and  eternally  superior  to  cures  exerted  on  a 
body,  which,  like  all  vegetable  and  animal  substances, 
will  soon  mingle  with  the  dust  of  the  earth. 

Scripture  subordinates  time  to  eternity.  Its  clew  to 
earth  is  discipline  for  Heaven.  Where  that  thread  slips 
our  fingers  our  existence  is  a  confusing  and  maddening 
and  suicidal  tangle  in  which  multitudes  are  immeshed. 
The  logical  end — despair !  In  the  hopeless  darkness  of 
this  firmament  the  Bible  sets  its  stars.  Its  apocalyptic 
thrones  and  crowns  and  harps  and  gems  and  gold  in  a 
magnificent  celestial  metropolis  of  the  universe  are  sym- 
bols of  everlasting  glories  and  felicities.  For  a  veiled 
future  its  discipline !  Of  my  specific  employments  in 
the  bright  world  beyond  I  am  ignorant  as  is  a  child  for 
the  requirements  of  his  vocation  as  a  man.  Like  him 
my  condition  necessitates  me  to  trust,  and  to  leave  my 
education  for  the  eternal  to  my  Father  in  the  Heavens. 
All  my  prayers  relating  to  my  earthly  life  have  an  inev- 
itable limitation.  Wealth  !  It  may  be  my  curse.  Repu- 
tation !  It  may  swell  my  pride.  Health !  I  may  abuse 
it  to  destruction.  What  I  deem  bliss  may  be  ruin. 
Pain  may  be  my  essential  discipline  for  the  everlasting. 

But  while  promises  for  the  earthly  and  the  temporal 
are  conditional,  promises  for  the  spiritual  and  immortal 
are  absolute.  Do  I  ask  Remission?  I  have  a  promise. 
Do  I  ask  Assurance?  I  have  a  promise.  Do  I  ask 
Comfort?  I  have  a  promise.  Do  I  ask  Purity? 
I  have  a  promise.  Do  I  ask  Victory?  I  have 
a  promise.  Like  light  and  air  each  Promise  is 
free  and  fitted  to  my  practical  needs.  It  would  make  me 
live  right  that  I  may  die  right.  A  flash  of  the  cloud  is 
not  its  symbol.     Christianity  is  the  tamed  and  applied 

34 


electric  force.  Wild  and  dazzling  displays  of  the  mystic 
fluid  in  the  heavens  are  not  so  striking  as  the  spectacle 
presented  when  the  potent  element  is  stored  for  domes- 
tic use  and  at  our  will  propels  a  machine  or  illuminates 
a  city. 

Hundreds  of  years  before  Christ  the  Greeks  knew 
that  friction  developed  in  amber  a  force  attracting  min- 
ute particles.  That  fact  in  elektron  was  the  germ  of 
discoveries  and  inventions  now  revolutionizing  human- 
ity. But  how  long  in  maturing  to  their  present  per- 
fection !  Ages  elapsed.  Down  to  our  own  times  elec- 
tricity was  a  toy,  I  remember  it  as  a  curious  sparkling 
display  in  a  college  lecture-room.  Often,  it  delighted  a 
staring  multitude.  Thirty  years  since  its  engine  was  a 
plaything.  Now  the  dynamo  moves  our  world.  Elec- 
tricity heats  and  lights  and  drives  and  rules — creator  of 
innumerable  industries — and  even  talks  beneath  oceans 
and  continents.  Patient,  painful,  laborious,  costly  cen- 
turies have  been  required  for  these  magnificent  results. 
So  we  believe  our  race  is  preparing  for  a  spiritual 
achievement  transcending  infinitely  the  brilliant  physical 
triumph.  The  Promised  Spirit  will  regenerate  man- 
kind with  an  energy  more  beneficent  than  electricity, 
and  to  an  immortal  health  beyond  the  dreams  of  Chris- 
tian Science. 


35 


III. 


PANTHEISM,  SCIENCE  AND  SCRIPTURE 


Humanity  in  all  ages  has  imaged  and  worshiped 
deities  of  its  own  manufacture.  Nor  was  Polytheism 
inconsistent  with  culture.  Babylon  and  Ninevah  are 
now  famous  for  their  cuneiform  libraries.  Indeed,  the 
little  wedges  on  their  tablets  and  cylinders  formed  a 
universal,  international  language.  We  have  not  yet  sur- 
passed the  grandeur  of  the  pyramids  and  the  columned 
majesty  of  Luxor.  Homer  and  Demosthenes  and  Thu- 
cydides  are  our  models  in  style.  Our  ideal  in  Archi- 
tecture is  the  Parthenon,  a  monument  of  idolatry,  while 
annual  explorations  increase  our  admiration  of  the 
templed  Forum.  In  the  galleries  of  Rome  and  Florence 
the  chief  charm  is  in  works  of  genius  from  artists  who 
painted  and  carved  and  adored  the  gods  of  Olympus. 

Yet  it  is  also  true  that,  as  the  ancient  nations  ad- 
vanced in  culture,  philosophical  minds  seceded  from 
Polytheism.  It. was  first  suspected,  then  rejected,  and 
at  last  ridiculed,  despised  and  abhorred.  Thus  the  Pan- 
theism of  the  few  arose  to  battle  with  the  idolatry  of 
the  many.  The  mind  of  man  has  always  revolved  in 
this  monotonous  circle.  At  the  root  of  the  difference 
between    idolatry    and    philosophy    is    the    question    of 

36 


Personality.  The  Personality  which  Polytheism  multi- 
plies Pantheism  extinguishes.  It  absorbs  personality  in 
a  mystic  evolution  from  nature.  In  old  Hermes  Tris- 
megistus  we  see  expressed  not  only  a  doctrine  of  Egypt, 
but  also  of  Greece  and  Rome  and  India  and  China  and 
Japan,  and  of  our  modern  unchristian  Science  in  every 
part  of  the  earth — "Thou  art  whatsoever  I  am ;  Thou 
art  whatsoever  I  do  or  say ;  Thou  art  all  things,  and 
there  is  nothing  Thou  are  not".  That  is  the  universe 
is  god  and  god  is  the  universe.  Pantheism  is  the  grave 
of  personality  and  obligation  and  accountability. 

Now  against  both  Polytheism  and  Pantheism  Script- 
ure is  a  perpetual  protest.  It  denounces  the  many  gods 
of  idolatry,  and  asserts  the  personality  and  sovereignty 
and  creatorship  of  the  Omnipotent  and  Omniscient 
Maker  of  the  Universe.  The  pronoun  /  in  every  page 
of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  enforces  the  com- 
mand of  Jehovah  and  the  promise  of  Jesus.  "I  will 
bless  thee ;  /  am  thy  shield  and  exceeding  great  reward ; 
/  am  Jehovah  thy  God  who  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  /  am  the  first  and  the  last ;  /  have  formed 
thee ;  /  have  redeemed  thee ;  /  form  the  light  and  create 
darkness ;  /  am  the  vine ;  /  am  the  way ;  /  am  the  truth ; 
/  am  the  life". 

What  does  Science  say?  Does  Science  agree  with 
Polytheism?  Or  does  Science  agree  with  Pantheism? 
Or  does  Science  agree  with  Scripture?  We  propose 
to  show  the  testimony  of  Science. 

I  begin  with  light.  It  robes  creation.  It  reveals  the 
beauties  of  earth.  It  unfolds  the  glories  of  heaven. 
Yet  Light  is  impersonal.  Not  one  ray  of  its  splendors 
from  the  most  brilliant  of  its  suns,  can  say :   "/  shine !" 

Gravity  attracts  worlds ;  unites  systems ;  in  a  fellow- 
ship of  motion  binds  together  our  universe.     What  a 

37 


force  of  the  Omnipotent !  Yet  Gravity  can  not  say : 
'7  cause  these  globes  to  roll ;  /  wheel  these  suns  about 
each  other;  /  do  this  illimitable  work  with  the  exactitude 
of  a  mathematical  formula !" 

Electricity  plays  an  important  part  in  our  modern 
civilization.  It  propels  our  cars ;  talks  for  us  around 
the  globe ;  drives  our  ships ;  illuminates  our  cities  and 
communicates  through  air  over  oceans  between  vessels 
miles  apart.  Yet  Electricity,  like  Light  and  Gravity,  is 
impersonal.  It  can  not  say :  UI  flash;  /  speak;  /  pro- 
pel ;  /  illuminate". 

As  with  worlds  so  with  atoms.  Not  a  solitary  mole- 
cule in  our  universe  can  use  the  personal  pronoun  and 
say:     '7  exist;  /  combine;  /  control  creation''. 

Nor  in  our  own  bodies  of  flesh  is  the  result  different. 
My  physical  organism  begins  in  an  ovum  which  is  mat- 
ter. It  comes  into  the  light  by  birth,  matter.  It  is  fed 
by  matter.  It  is  matter  in  bone  and  muscle  and  sinew 
and  heart  and  brain — all  matter,  only  matter,  and  always 
matter — and,  like  Light  and  Gravity  and  Electricity  and 
all  the  primal  forces  of- nature,  impersonal.  So  far  Pan- 
theism has  the  argument.  Judgment  would  be  in  its 
favor  if  the  court  had  no  other  witnesses.  Our  modern 
physicists  and  scientists  and  philosophers,  dealing  only 
with  impersonal  facts  and  forces  see  the  universe  as 
impersonal,  and  insensibly  incline  to  the  impersonal  of 
Pantheism.  It  is  thus  without  design  that  our  material 
age  banishes  God  from  His  own  creation. 

What  accomplishes  for  man  those  stupendous  results 
which  Science  boasts?  What  paints  the  picture;  carves 
the  statue ;  erects  the  edifice  ?  Wrhat  charms  in  music ; 
thrills  in  eloquence ;  ennobles  in  literature  ?  What  res- 
cues earth  from  barbarism,  and  fills  it  with  beauty  and 
comfort  and   refinement?     Is  it   the   hand?     Is   it  the 

38 


voice?  Is  it  the  brain?  No!  We  will  show  that  it  is 
the  soul  which  makes  art,  creates  science,  delights  in 
literature.  Soul  beautifies  earth  and  reveals  heaven. 
Soul  discovers  facts  from  laws,  and  triumphs  in  loco- 
motive and  steamship  and  telegraph  and  telephone  and 
telescope,  and  gives  man  his  mastery  over  the  forces  of 
the  universe — soul,  greater  than  light,  greater  than 
gravity,  greater  than  electricity,  greater  than  wheeling 
suns  and  systems,  and  yet  a  mighty  inner  world  of 
power  of  which  its  possessor  is  blindly  ignorant.  That 
which  searches  all  and  knows  all  and  conquers  all  is 
neglected  by  all.  To  the  laws  which  give  glory  to  the 
soul  humanity  is  insensible.  This  soul  is  the  forgotten 
witness  we  now  introduce  into  court. 

I  examine  Myself!  Through  my  five  senses  I  know 
the  material  universe.  Of  its  existence  my  Perception 
gives  me  assurance  and  T  have  no  other  evidence.  My 
Memory  retains  and  recalls  my  knowledge,  which  [ 
reduce  to  my  command  by  its  discoverable  laws.  Im- 
agination combines  my  percepts  into  forms  not  in  na- 
ture, ever  sparing  towards  ideals  transcending  creation 
itself;  while  my  Reason  proves  and  classifies  according 
to  eternal  truth.  Appetites,  desires,  emotions,  passions 
are  the  executive  power  of  my  inner  self,  driving  me 
forward  with  thrills  of  joy  or  agony.  Conscience  sits 
my  Judge,  condemning  and  approving.  Master  of  my 
soul  is  my  all-directing  Will.  And  in  all  thought,  in  all 
feeling,  in  all  volition  is  my  Consciousness  of  Myself 
as  an  ineradicable,  causative,  personal  agent. 

In  material  objects,  known  by  my  Perception,  I  find 
certain  universal  properties.  Each  has  length ;  each  has 
breadth ;  each  has  thickness  ;  each  has  weight.  Each  I 
can  reduce  to  inches  and  pounds.  Not  so  my  thoughts, 
my  feelings,  .my  volitions!     In  these  I  find  not  one  of 

39 


the  properties  essential  to  matter.  I  can  not  measure 
my  Memory  by  the  yard ;  I  can  not  reduce  my  Imagina- 
tion to  furlongs;  I  can  not  weigh  Reason  by  avoir- 
dupois ;  I  can  not  square  an  emotion  or  cube  a  passion ! 
I  can  not  apply  to  Conscience  a  merchant's  scales. 
Thinking  and  feeling  and  willing  are  eternal  opposites, 
sheer  contradictories  of  length  and  breadth  and  thick- 
ness. If  properties  differ  their  substances  differ.  To 
soul  I  can  not  apply  the  properties  of  matter,  and  to 
matter  I  can  not  apply  the  properties  of  soul.  A  tree 
think  !  A  mountain  feel !  A  star  will !  Absurd  !  Or 
a  soul  short !  A  soul  long !  A  soul  broad !  Ridiculous  ! 
Matter  perceive !  Matter  remember !  Matter  imagine  ! 
Matter  reason  !  Matter  conscientious  !  Inconceivable  ! 
Then,  soul  and  matter  are  essential  and  eternal  oppo- 
sites and  contradictories,  united  in  one  human  person- 
ality in  a  way  which  so  far'  is  to  all  our  philosophy 
baffling,  and  possibly  forever  inexplicable. 

Mr.  Hume  defines  mind  "to  be  nothing  but  a  heap  or 
collection  of  different  impressions  united  together  by 
different  relations".  And  Mr!  Mill  says:  "Mind  is  a 
series  of  feelings  with  a  belief  in  the  permanent  possi- 
bility of  the  feelings".  These  writers  make  the  soul  a 
mere  succession  of  ideas,  and  consequently  the  universe 
a  mere  succession  of  events.  Having  eliminated  causal- 
ity from  man  they  eliminate  causality  from  God.  With 
causality  they  entomb  personality.  By  this  philosophy 
Hume  and  Mill  bring  back  upon  the  world  the  old 
Egyptian  Pantheism. 

Admitting  their  premise  their  conclusion  is  inevitable. 
But  in  their  definition  of  soul  have  they  not  omitted 
that  in  it  which  is  most  fundamental  and  universal  and 
distinguishing?  Am  T  a  mere  "heap''  of  impressions? 
Am  I  a  mere  "series"  of  feelings?    Am  I  a  mere  "suc- 

40 


cession"  of  ideas?  Are  all  these  impressions  and  feel- 
ings and  ideas  united  only  by  shadowy,  uncausing  and 
indefinite  relations?  For  answer  I  again  look  into 
Myself!  What  do  I  find?  I  will  start  with  this  morn- 
ing. When  my  eye  opened  to  its  light  began  my 
thoughts  and  feelings  and  volitions,  innumerable  as  the 
rays  of  the  sun  which  illuminate  our  world.  For  these 
my  witness  is  my  Consciousness.  But  does  this  testify 
only  to  successions  in  my  mental  movements?  It  as- 
sures me  of  infinitely  more.  Beyond  perceiving,  beyond 
remembering,  beyond  imagining,  beyond  reasoning,  be- 
yond feeling,  beyond  willing,  it  gives  me  the  certitude 
of  a  fact  which  Hume  and  Mill  ignore.  To  its  witness 
of  each  operation  of  my  soul  it  testifies  that  in  each  I 
am  its  personal  cause.  As  rays  from  a  sun-center,  Con- 
sciousness proves  to  me  that  all  my  possible  mental  con- 
ditions radiate  from  myself,  and  can  be  expressed  only 
by  the  pronoun  7".  /  perceive,  /  remember,  /  imagine, 
/  reason,  I  feel,  /  will.  And  when  the  soul  acts  upon 
the  body  this  /  is  the  language  of  humanity.  Panthe- 
istic scientists  and  philosophers  and  hypercritics  can  not 
accommodate  their  speech  to  their  system,  and  with  the 
common  billions  of  our  race  are  forced  to  say :  "I  see, 
I  hear,  I  taste,  I  smell,  I  grasp,  I  move,  I  eat".  Nor 
are  their  feelings  exempted  from  a  necessary  condition 
of  their  existence.  Hume  and  Mill  and  Hartmann  and 
Schopenhauer  and  McConnell,  with  ordinary  mortals, 
are  compelled  to  terms  of  personality,  and  exclaim,  "I 
love,  I  hate,  I  rejoice,  I  hunger,  I  thirst".  And,  passing 
into  the  regions  of  the  masterful  Will,  they  say — "I 
choose,  I  determine,  I  resolve". 

In  every  possible  act  of  body  and  soul  we  express 
ourselves  by  the  /  as  a  personal  cause.  We  are  driven 
to  it  by  our  constitution.     It  is  a  universal  necessity.     It 

41 


is  witnessed  by  the  language  of  mankind.  It  testifies 
the  heart  of  humanity.  Could  all  men  in  all  nations 
and  all  regions  voice  their  thoughts  and  feelings  and 
volitions  during  any  single  day,  their  /  would  thunder 
over  the  universe  and  silence  the  dubious  and  incoherent 
utterances  of  all  our  skeptical  scientific  and  philosophic 
and  hyperergic  and  clerical  Pantheists. 

When  a  boyish  collegian,  I  was  charmed,  almost 
transported,  by  Paley's  "Natural  Theology".  Its  argu- 
ments were  vividly  stated  and  unanswerably  conclusive. 
Design  in  nature !  It  was  painted  to  my  eye.  Even- 
atom  in  the  universe,  by  wise  combination,  was  its  wit- 
ness. Personal  Cause  was  implied,  and  hence  not 
proved.  This  truth  Paley  supposed  was  involved  in  his 
conclusion.  Late  last  century  in  Berlin  Hartmann 
arose.  He  became,  in  his  brief  day,  the  oracle  of  mod- 
ern Pantheism.  He  admitted,  with  Paley,  design  in  the 
universe.  He  conceded  also  will;  but  denied  person- 
ality. He  thus  swept  away  the  conclusion  of  the  old 
argument.  The  ground  was  changed.  With  Hume  and 
Mill,  Hartmann  eliminated  from  nature  the  /  as  a  per- 
sonal cause.  The  answer  to  him  is  found  in  the  whole 
scope  of  our  argument  and  in  the  testimony  of  our 
humanity. 

Our  proof,  however,  is  not  yet  exhausted.  Here  is 
an  octogenarian  who  was  painted  in  his  infancy.  Now 
he  sees  himself  a  boy  in  the  antiquated  daguerreotype. 
Then  he  beholds  his  photographed  face  and  form  as  an 
all-conquering  youth  ;  as  a  battling  man  in  the  glory  of 
his  physical  and  intellectual  power ;  and  finally  himself 
as  old  and  feeble  and  wrinkled  and  tottering.  Through 
all  these  stages  of  his  life  what  contrasting  changes — 
revolutions  in  thought,  in  feeling,  in  opinion,  in  char- 
acter !      Between   infancy   and   age   the   differences   are 

42 


overwhelming.  Yet  one  indestructible  attribute  of  the 
man  has  survived  all  the  transformations  in  his  body 
and  his  soul.  Within  his  eighty  years  the  universe  has 
been  one  incessant  whirl.  Atoms  have  changed.  Worlds 
have  changed.  All  sentient  beings  have  changed.  Out- 
shattered  pilgrim  in  his  personality  has  not  changed. 
In  terms  of  /  he  describes  his  whole  life.  In  infancy,  in 
youth,  in  manhood  he  is  1.  He  is  /  in  his  last  gasp. 
Should  he  live  forever  he  will  be  /  forever.  Immortal 
his  personality.  Tear  a  man  to  fragments,  blind  his 
eye,  blast  his  ear,  destroy  smell  and  touch  and  taste, 
reduce  to  idiocy  or  lunacy,  and  still  identity  survives. 
The  personality  of  a  maniac  is  acknowledged  by  the 
law,  which  guards  his  rights  ;  and  is  testified  by  the  very 
speech  of  humanity. 

Amid  all  its  triumphs  Physical  Science,  insensible  to 
a  fundamental  fact,  ends  in  Pantheism.  Matter,  we 
have  seen,  I  know  by  Perception  and  soul  by  Conscious- 
ness. Beyond  Perception  and  Consciousness  I  have  no 
evidence.  Discarding  Perception  and  Consciousness  I 
have  no  foundation.  I  am  a  suicidal  skeptic  in  an  in- 
exorable universe.  Our  modern  materialists  can  give 
no  reason  for  believing  anything.  Until  they  know  and 
accept  their  own  personality  in  all  their  mental  and 
bodily  acts,  their  whole  mental  structure  is  loose  and 
trembling  as  a  house  on  the  sands  of  the  ocean  exposed 
to  its  cyclones.  Before  I  can  be  stable  in  myself  I  must 
answer,  not  only  the  question,  "Why  do  I  believe 
in  Christianity?"  but  also,  "Why  do  I  believe  in 
Anything?"  Agnostics  are  doubters  because  ignorant 
of  the  laws  of  their  own  minds.  In  matter  they  forget 
soul.  Yet  what  knows  and  controls  and  utilizes  mat- 
ter? Soul.  Then  soul  is  first  and  matter  last.  We 
narrow   Science   when   we   include  matter  and  exclude 

43 


soul.  As  soul  transcends  matter  Psychical  Science  is 
superior  to  Physical  Science.  Psychical  Science  alone 
takes  me  down  to  the  fundamental  fact  of  my  person- 
ality, and  to  those  laws  of  belief  which  give  assurance 
to  opinion.  I  do  not  mean  here  the  wild  dreams  of 
spiritualists ;  the  absurd  claims  of  impostors ;  the  crude 
conceptions  of  an  abused  and  ignorant  public.  True 
Psychology  is  inductive,  founded  on  facts,  deduced  from 
observations,  ending  in  laws ;  and  is,  therefore,  the 
ultimate  of  all  our  knowledge,  the  "Scientia  Scienti- 
arum",  and  as  far  above  Physics  as  the  soul  of  man  is 
above  a  star  of  heaven. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  inference  from  our  argu- 
ment 

Does  my  Consciousness  assure  me  that  I  am  a  per- 
son? Is  my  soul  a  cause?  Am  I  indeed  an  I,  in  all  I 
think  and  feel  and  will  and  do?  Then  I  reason  upward 
from  myself  to  my  Maker.  Each  effect  must  have  ade- 
quate cause.  How  can  an  impersonal  cause  produce  in 
me  personality  as  an  effect?  How  can  an  unconscious 
cause  produce  in  me  consciousness  as  an  effect?  How 
can  the  impersonal  and  unconscious  as  a  cause  produce 
anything  but  the  impersonal  and  unconscious  as  an 
effect?  If  I  am  a  conscious  person,  God  is  a  conscious 
Person.  The  I  in  me  proves  the  I  in  ray  Creator.  My- 
self, the  finite  I,  and  He,  the  Infinite  I,  my  Sovereign 
Maker ! 

Xor  is  this  truth  merely  philosophical  dogma.  It 
revolutionizes  all  moral  relations.  To  the  impersonal 
and  unconscious  we  can  owe  no  obligation.  Pantheism 
buries  responsibility.  And  so  does  Philosophy  with  its 
Rule  of  Right.  This  she  traces  to  the  "Nature  of 
Things",  the  "Fitness  of  Things",  the  "Good  of  our 
race  and  universe".     Shadowy  mental  conceptions,  in- 

44 


volvitfg  no  idea  of  duty ;  and  which  leave  every  man  to 
his  own  rule.  Pantheism  and  Philosophy  thus  alike 
and  together  prepare  the  way  for  moral  anarchy.  But 
is  God  my  Maker?  Do  I  owe  Him  all?  Is  He  an 
Infinite  Person?  To  Him  then,  a  Person,  I  owe  alleg- 
iance as  a  person.  The  I  in  man  feels  obligation  to  the 
I  in  God ;  I,  the  finite,  is  responsible  to  Him,  the  Infinite. 
His  Sovereign  Will  is.  now  my  sole  law.  To  find  it  and 
to  study  it  and  to  obey  it,  become  my  supreme  duty. 
Science  has  brought  me  back '  to  Scripture !  Science 
argues  from  the  personality  in  man  to  that  Personality 
in  God  which  is  the  foundation  of  Scripture.  And  in 
this  Science  not  only  harmonizes  with  Scripture  but 
with  the  common  sense  of  mankind. 

The  Personality  of  God,  witnessed  in  every  part  of 
the  Bible,  has  special  and  emphatic  testimony  in  Moses. 
He  was  educated  in  the  palace  of  Rameses  the  Great, 
monarch  and  hierarch.  Priests  were  the  teachers  of 
the  young  Hebrew  during  forty  years  of  his  wonderful 
life.  They  unfolded  to  him  all  the  occult  wisdom  of 
Egypt.  Not  unlikely  they  were  educating  the  ward  of 
the  daughter-wife  of  Rameses  for  the  crown  of  his  vast 
dominion.  From  his  youth  Moses  was  familiar  with 
philosophical  Pantheism  and  popular  Polytheism.  In 
his  palace  priest-school  he  learned  the  creed  of  the  one, 
and  over  the  land  he  saw  the  shrines  and  altars  and 
temples  and  images  of  innumerable  deities.  Center  of 
all  this  idolatry,  Apis,  a  disgusting  bull,  adored  as  a 
god !  Opposed  to  Egyptian  Pantheism  and  Polytheism 
were  all  the  beliefs  of  Israel.  Written  traditions  of 
Jehovah,  Moses  must  have  found  among  his  people. 
These  his  masterful  and  inspired  genius  transformed 
into  inimitable  Genesis.  In  creation  he  found  Jehovah 
as  I ;  in  Paradise,  Jehovah  was  I ;  in  the  building  and 

45 


floating  and  resting  ark,  Jehovah  was  I ;  covenanting 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  Jehovah  was  I ; 
to  himself  in  bush,  in  plague,  in  sea,  in  cloud  and  fire ; 
in  wilderness  and  on  mercy-seat  and  between  cherubim, 
from  shekinah,  Moses  heard  constantly  repeated,  "I  am 
Jehovah".  More  impressive  and  sublime  than  all,  the 
words  from  the  flame  when  Moses  received  the  rod  of 
his  power! 

"I  am- He  who  I  am".  Commission  packed  with  per- 
sonal pronouns.  And  all  through  the  Old  Testament, 
in  promise  and  prediction  and  command,  the  prophets 
accentuate  the  same  great  fundamental  and  eternal 
truth.  Jesus-Jehovah  renews  and  repeats  their  testi- 
mony,— "I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life;  I  will 
come  again  and  receive  you  to  Myself;  Where  I  am  ye 
shall  be  also ;  I  am  He  that  was  dead  and  am  alive  for- 
evermore ;  I  make  all  things  new". 

Scripture  and  Science  but  express  the  voice  of  hu- 
manity. Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  attributes  to  a  fish  the 
consciousness  Pantheism  denies  to  God.  If  one  fish  is 
conscious,  all  swimmers  of  the  sea  are  conscious.  All 
birds  of  the  air  are  also  conscious.  And  conscious  all 
the  beasts  of  the  earth.  Men  and  angels  too  are  con- 
scious. Yea !  Conscious  the  very  animalculae  of  a 
dewdrop.  Yet  we  are  told  by  our  scientific  and  philo- 
sophic and  hypercritic  Pantheists,  that  He  is  impersonal 
and  unconscious — the  Creator  of  all — who  moves  the 
atoms,  who  revolves  the  worlds,  who  wheels  the  sys- 
tems, who  governs  an  infinite  universe  by  mathematical 
and  mechanical  law ;  who  fills  it  with  innumerable  per- 
sonal and  conscious  intelligences,  and  is  yet  Himself  an 
impersonal  and  unconscious  stupidity,  not  knowing  his 
own  existence!  I  will  accept  their  conclusion  when  I 
can  believe  that  angels  and  cherubim  and  seraphim  and 

46 


all  terrestrial  intelligences  and  celestial  hierarchies  are 
self-evolved  from  protoplastic  jelly  fish.  But  until  that 
hour  I  prefer — with  Scripture  and  Science,  in  protest 
against  Polytheism  and  Pantheism — the  words  of  my 
Creator,  "I  am  Jehovah  that  maketh  all  things;  I  have 
made  earth  and  created  man  upon  it ;  I,  even  my  hands 
have  stretched  out  the  heavens  and  all  the  hosts  of 
them  have  I  commanded". 


47 


IV. 


DR.  DRIVER  AND  HIS  PSALTER 


We  will  never  forget  the  impression  produced  when, 
in  the  Union  Seminary  Library,  we  first  examined  the 
works  of  the  hyper-critic  masters.  Acquaintance  with 
Kuenen  and  Wellhausen  and  Briggs  and  Driver  was  an 
era  in  life.  It  was  a  revelation  of  the  modern  methods 
applied  to  Scripture.  From  a  slight  premise  an  enor- 
mous conclusion !  Gigantic  inference  from  pigmy  spec- 
ulation !  Recklessness  resembling  that  of  scientists  who 
from  senseless  and  sterile  protoplasm  evolve  the  intelli- 
gence of  an  illimitable  universe !  Great  scholars,  in  the 
retirement  of  their  libraries,  with  no  instruments  but 
books,  mending  the  Bible,  and  the  Creation,  and  aspir- 
ing to  rival  Omnipotence  by  making  something  out  of 
nothing ! 

Like  a  house  of  cards  by  a  kick  of  boyhood,  before 
this  hyper-critic  genius  go  down  Rabbinical  tradition, 
Jewish  national  belief,  and  proved  historic  facts.  Moses 
in  his  Pentateuch  gives  place  to  shadows  never  heard 
of  until  these  bold  gentlemen  were  born.  Joshua  is  a 
myth.  David  never  wrote  the  Psalms  ascribed  to  him 
by  our  Lord  and  by  Peter  and  by  Paul.  Isaiah  and 
Daniel  are  predicters  after  events,  and  the  prophets  gen- 

48 


erally  blundering  forgers  and  liars,  and  all  with  the 
approval  of  the  Messiah !  Hyper-critics  sweep  away 
the  wonderful  evidences  which  support  Scripture  as  a 
divine  revelation  of  Salvation ;  and  in  the  wreck  entomb 
its  doctrines ;  and  call  on  us  to  admire  the  firmament 
from  which  they  have  hurled  sun  and  moon  and  stars. 
Some  of  the  destructives  would  overturn  the  cross  of 
our  Incarnate  God,  which  centers  the  universe  for  time 
and  eternity.  They  forget  that  He  is  Judge  as  well  as 
Redeemer,  and  guards  His  word  with  His  malediction. 

The  pages  of  The  Parallel  Psalter  were  cut  by  us 
under  the  impression  that  it  was  another  product  of 
this  wild  hyper-criticism.  We  were  mistaken.  Preju- 
dice colored  our  judgment.  It  bears  slight  mark  of  the 
Auriga  who,  a  modern  Phaeton,  would  drive  his  Oxford 
chariot  over  the  ruins  of  a  universe.  We  are  glad  to 
say  that  it  is  a  work  of  patient  labor,  extensive  scholar- 
ship, and  conservative  method ;  and  a  useful  companion 
to  our  venerable  Anglican  Psalter. 

Yet,  while  the  book  evinces  great  learning,  it  is  want- 
ing in  critical  acumen  and  in  literary  taste.  Our  erudite 
author  lacks  that  poetical  sensibility  which  could  alone 
bring  him  into  sympathy  with  the  immortal  bard  whose 
verses  are  daily  said  and  sung  in  every  part  of  Christen- 
dom. 

We  will  take  Psalm  xci.  for  illustration. 

Dr.  Driver. — "He  that  dwelleth  in  the  Hiding  Place 
of  the  Most  High". 

Anglican  Psalter. — "He  that  dwelleth  in  the  Defence 
of  the  Most  High". 

King  James'  Version  and  the  English  and  American 
Revisions. — "He  that  Divelleth  in  the  Secret  Place  of 
the  Most  High". 

The  Hebrew  thus  variously  rendered  is  sether.     It 

49 


may  mean  "Hiding  Place",  or  "Defence",  or  "Secret 
Place".  Each  translation  is  scholarly.  Which  is  prefer- 
able? We  think  that  the  Oxford  Professor  has  selected 
the  most  objectionable :  Hiding  Place.  A  boy  wants  a 
hiding  place  for  his  play.  A  thief  wants  a  hiding  place 
for  his  plunder.  Hiding  Place  has  a  vulgar  and  peurile 
association.  It  is  also  a  temporary  resort,  not  a 
permanent  habitation.  Yet  our  author  makes  the 
Most  High  dwell  in  a  hiding-place.  We  prefer 
the  translation  familiar  in  the  dear  old  Bible  as  read 
by  our  fathers  in  their  morning  devotions,  and  by  our 
clergymen  in  the  sacred  desk :  "He  that  dwelleth  in  the 
Secret  Place  of  the  Most  High".  Here,  like  Moses,  we 
are  brought  within  the  veil,  into  the  holiest,  and  abide 
in  the  Presence  of  Jehovah,  Almighty  Maker  of  the 
universe. 

From  Dr.  Drivers  "fastness"  in  the  second  verse  and 
"trap"  in  the  third,  we  turn  with  pleasure  to  the  more 
euphonious  "fortress"  and  "snare"  of  King  James.  Nor 
can  we  see  why  Oxford  has  changed  the  musical  "shield 
and  buckler"  of  the  other  versions  for  "buckler  and 
targe" — the  latter  word  harsh  to  the  ear,  hard  to  be 
sung,  and  absolutely  obsolete. 

Again,  note  verse  3  of  this  Psalm!  "Engulphing 
pestilence".  Is  it  possible?  Can  all  the  learning  of 
Oxford  from  Middeber  Kavvoth,  torture  "Engulph- 
ing"? With  no  suggestion  of  "engulphing",  the  words 
mean  pestilence  of  ruins,  expressed  in  King  James'  by 
"noisome",  whose  former  meaning  is  now  obsolete,  and 
by  the  preferable  "deadly"  of  our  English  and  American 
Revisions.  An  ocean  "engnlphs" ;  but  not  a  "pestil- 
ence", imperceptible  to  sense  and  more  subtle  than  the 
air  through  which  it  diffuses  its  invisible  poison.  Here 
Oxford  seems  to  have  violated  taste  and  scholarship. 

50 


We  would  not  like  to  hear  the  choir  of  Christ  Church 
chant  an  awkward,  unmusical  word  which  does  not 
express  the  Hebrew,  and  which  offends  at  once  the  ear 
and  the  taste.  Perhaps  in  his  efforts  to  "engulph" 
Scripture  Dr.  Driver  has  contracted  a  partiality  for  the 
destructive  term.  However  this  may  be,  we  must  ex- 
press our  surprise  that  the  University,  in  all  its  history 
the  most  distinguished  for  its  classic  culture — Alma 
Mater  of  Gladstone  and  Keble  and  Creighton  and  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Coleridge  and  Lord  Chancellor  Selberne, 
lawyer  and  poet — should  have  produced  a  learned  Pro- 
fessor who  supplants  all  previous  versions  of  the  Bible 
by  a  word  which  violates  the  original,  and  would,  for 
all  time,  mar  the  music  of  our  glorious  Psalter. 


5i 


PROFESSOR  BRTGGS   AND  HIS   PSALTER 


The  laborious,  minute  and  ponderous  scholarship  of 
our  author  is  pathetic.  Could  erudition  and  industry 
qualify  for  his  work  few  men  would  be  better  equipped 
for  brilliant  success.  Practically  his  book  is  a  painful 
failure.  If  possible  to  extinguish  the  divine  fire  of  in- 
spired poetic  genius  our  Professor  can  supply  the  thick 
and  dark  and  abundant  quenching  fluid.  His  exposition 
of  the  immortal  Psalter,  glorious  in  the  light  of  God. 
reminds  us  of  an  ancient  clay-wall  piled  around  a  mag- 
nificent oriental  city  in  such  a  way  as  to  exclude  the 
greatest  possible  refreshments  of  air  and  sunlight. 

Proof  is  the  dread  of  hypercritics.  Assertion  is  their 
life.  Often  so  innumerable  are  their  false  and  sweeping- 
generalities  that  specific  answer  is  difficult.  We  have 
now  an  opportunity  to  narrow  the  issue.  The  word 
asaph  is  found  in  most  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. It  is  an  ancient,  venerable  and  familiar  Hebrew 
verb.  Our  author  says  that  in  Psalm  xxvii.  its  mean- 
ing is  "not  earlier  than  the  Maccabean  period".  Hence, 
for  this  glorious  anthem,  he  infers  an  origin  centuries 
after  the  Captivity !     On  his  unsupported  statement  we 

52 


cannot  accept  this  view.  We  question  his  accuracy. 
We  challenge  his  scholarship.    We  demand  his  proof. 

No  poet  has  ever  been  so  widely  read  and  sung  as 
David.  This  shows  that  his  genius  for  sacred  song  sur- 
passes all  mortal  gifts.  He  lifts  us  at  once  to  Jehovah. 
And  his  piety  glows  like  a  sun.  In  his  exposition  mere 
learning  resembles  an  aimless  bat  flitting  blinded  by  the 
splendors  of  the  day.  Genius  must  interpret  genius  and 
godliness  explain  godliness.  Otherwise,  erudition,  in- 
stead of  help,  is  hindrance.  The  eventful  life  of  the 
shepherd-boy  whom  valor  crowned  king,  in  its  perilous 
and  picturesque  variety,  is  often  the  sole  key  to  strains, 
which  for  ages,  as  no  other,  have  taught  and  moved  and 
exalted  humanity.  Each  historic  door  unopened  the 
hypercritic  staggers  on  in  his  own  darkness.  As  David 
voiced  the  soul  of  Israel  so  he  expresses  the  heart  of 
Christendom.  Through  the  circuit  of  the  centuries  over 
earth,  his  Psalms  salute  the  morning  and  the  evening 
sun.  Written  under  the  shadow  of  the  typical  sacri- 
ficial system  of  Moses,  now,  in  the  noon-light  of  the 
Gospel,  they  celebrate  the  experiences  of  pious  millions, 
amid  all  climes  and  races,  who  worship  the  prophesied, 
crucified  and  glorified  Christ.  To  expound  David  de- 
mands transcendent  qualifications,  which  must  spring 
from  mind  and  character  and  history.  Woe  to  the  man 
whose  unhallowed  feet  profane  the  temple  of  Jehovah, 
and  whose  lips,  untouched  with  the  divine  fire,  would 
blast  the  faith  of  his  humblest  servant! 

Let  us  then  inquire  whether  Dr.  Briggs  has  those 
personal  gifts  indispensable  to  a  commentator  of  the 
Psalms  of  the  Son  of  Jesse. 

i.  We  will  examine  our  author  as  a  Professor  Train- 
ing Presbyterian  Clergymen. 

Whatever  legally  and  technically  the  creed  and  claim 

53 


of  the  Seminary  of  our  Professor,  its  chief  purpose  is 
to  educate  students  to  be  ordained  as  Presbyterian  min- 
isters. During  its  annual  term,  daily,  Dr.  Briggs  meets 
young  gentlemen  who  are  to  subscribe  the  Presbyterian 
Confession,  preach  in  Presbyterian  pulpits,  and  live  and 
work  and  die  amid  Presbyterian  people.  Yet  for  his 
heretical  departure  from  Presbyterian  standards  our 
Professor  has  been  excommunicated  from  the  Presby- 
terian Church  by  the  Presbyterian  Assembly,  which  is 
surpassed  in  learning  and  piety  and  judgment  by  no 
religious  body  in  Christendom.  Before  the  world  that 
verdict  stands,  despite  Episcopal  ordination  based  on  a 
hasty  and  regretted  recommendation  by  our  standing 
committee  and  its  esteemed  and  venerable  head.  How 
must  students  regard  such  a  teacher?  Often  with  a 
doubt;  sometimes  with  a  smile;  slyly  with  a  jest.  But 
relations  so  false  influence  beyond  the  lecture  room. 
They  affect  a  man's  whole  character.  They  cloud  his 
intellect.  They  blunt  his  sensibility.  A  delicace  spir- 
itual instinct  should  be  the  breath  of  the  life  of  a  com- 
mentator of  the  poet-prophet  so  profound  in  confession, 
so  insistent  on  uprightness :  so  soaring  in  piety,  so  sub- 
lime in  worship. 

2.  We  examine  Dr.  Briggs  as  an  Episcopal  Clergy- 
man. 

Four  characteristics  distinguish  his  present  Church : 

( i )  It  admits  to  its  pulpits  only  ministers  in  the  apos- 
tolical succession.  (2)  It  restricts  to  Baptism  regenera- 
tion by  the  Holy  Ghost.  (3)  It  proclaims  a  Christian 
Priesthood.  (4)  It  administers  Eucharist  but  to  those 
confirmed  by  its  Bishops. 

As  may  be  inferred  from  their  Greek  originals,  the 
contradictory  of  Episcopalianism  is  Presbyterianism. 
What  Episcopalianism  with  its  bishops  asserts,  Presby- 

54 


terianism  with  its  elders  denies.  In  the  four  character- 
istics named,  Episcopalianism  and  Presbyterianism  are 
essential  and  eternal  opposites.  Yet  to  both  these  an- 
tagonistic organizations  Dr.  Briggs  is  committed.  As 
a  Professor  he  is  honorably  engaged  to  defend  Presby- 
terianism, and  as  a  Clergyman  he  is  solemnly  pledged 
to  teach  Episcopalianism.  With  monotonous  elevation 
and  depression  we  conceive  his  lecture-room  an  ecclesi- 
astical see-saw.  When  Presbyterianism  goes  up,  Epis- 
copalianism goes  down.  Professor  and  Clergyman  are 
irreconcilables.  Theologically  Dr.  Briggs  wars  with 
Dr.  Briggs.  Ceaseless  airy  mutations  are  not  congenial 
to  the  study  of  the  song-worship  of  the  Psalmist  whose 
inspired  anthems  soar  into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of 
the  sunlight  of  assured  faith  in  the  presence  and  prom- 
ise of  Jehovah. 

Dr.  Briggs  Denies  the  Biblical  Moses 

He  says  that  the  laws  and  institutions  of  the  Jews, 
civil,  religious  and  domestic,  were  not  given  in  the 
wilderness,  "but  are  now  seen  to  be  the  development  of 
the  experience  of  Israel  during  the  centuries  of  his 
residence  in  the  Holy  Land.  It  would  be  absurd  to 
ascribe  the  elaborate  Pentateuchal  code  to  the  Israel  of 
the  Exodus". 

But  the  Bible  of  our  Professor  asserts  the  reverse  of 
the  book  of  our  Professor.  It  tells  us  that  the  Hebrews 
were  delivered  from  Egypt :  by  pillared  cloud  and  fire 
led  through  the  sea :  given  by  Jehovah  the  ten  com- 
mandments on  Sinai :  and  records  the  directions  for  the 
Tabernacle,  its  erection,  and  acceptance  by  a  descending 
divine  glory.  Without  proof,  on  his  mere  word,  our 
Professor  sweeps  away  the  Book  of  Exodus.  Leviticus 
too  he  affirms  was  not  a  communication  in  the  wilder- 

55 


ness,  but  a  development  in  Canaan.  What  says  itself? 
It  records  the  place,  region  and  period  of  its  revelation. 
The  Place :  "Jehovah  called  unto  Moses  and  spake  unto 
him  out  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation".  The 
Region :  The  last  verse  of  Leviticus  informs  us  that — 
"These  were  the  commandments  which  Jehovah  com- 
manded Moses  for  the  children  of  Israel  in  Mount 
Sinai".  The  Time  :  Before'  Israel  left  the  wilderness  on 
its  march  to  Canaan.  Nor  less  specific  is  Numbers ! 
The  book  begins — "Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses  in  the 
Wilderness  of  Sinai,  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congrega- 
tion, on  the  first  day  of  the  second  month  in  the  second 
year  after  they  were  come  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt" : 
and  it  ends — "These  are  the  commandments  and  judg- 
ments which  Jehovah  commanded  by  the  hand  of  Moses 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  plains  of  Moab  by 
Jordan  near  Jericho".  Thus  Numbers,  commenced  in 
the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  was  completed  before  the  en- 
trance into  Canaan.  Deuteronomy  is  equally  express. 
Hear  its  first  verse :  "These  are  the  words  which  Moses 
spake  unto  all  Israel  on  this  side  of  Jordan  in  the  wil- 
derness". From  the  call  on  Horeb  to  the  death  in  Moab, 
through  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deuteronomy,  in 
scores  of  places,  we  have  the  words — "Jehovah  spake  to 
Moses".  Here  then  is  the  difference  between  the  Bible 
of  our  Professor  and  the  book  of  our  Professor : 

Bible — A  Revelation. 
Professor — A  Development. 

Bible — Given  in  Wilderness. 
Professor — Growth  in  Canaan. 

Bible — Written  by  Moses. 
Professor — Wrritten  after  Moses. 

Bible — A  Divine  Command  from  Jehovah. 

56 


Professor — A  human  work  like  the  American  Con- 
stitution. 
Bible — Direct  from  God. 

Professor — Direct  from  man. 

Hence  the  distance  of  Professor  from  Bible  is  the 
distance  of  man  from  God. 

Thus  Dr.  Briggs  entombs  four  books  of  Scripture 
he  vowed  as  an  Episcopal  Clergyman  he  would  believe 
and  defend.  He  does  more !  He  makes  them  forger- 
ies. He  stamps  them  lies.  He  exposes  them  to  scorn. 
Denying  the  Biblical  Moses  he  gives  a  mutilated  sub- 
stitute all  infidels  rejoice  to  accept.  Ingersoll  presented 
nothing  they  esteem  better. 

The  call  of  Moses !  The  deliverance  from  Pharaoh ! 
The  passage  through  the  sea !  The  Law  from  Sinai ! 
The  Tabernacle  modelled  and  consecrated  in  celestial 
splendor !  The  cloud  and  fire !  The  rock  and  manna 
and  serpent !  The  countless  revelations  from  Jehovah  ! 
Miracles  of  love  and  power  from  Egypt  to  Canaan, 
ascribed  to  Almighty  God,  authenticated  by  prophets, 
extolled  in  the  Psalms,  confirmed  by  the  Apostles,  ac- 
cepted by  the  Universal  Church,  sacred  in  the  hearts 
and  homes  of  Jews  and  Christians, — all  are  falsehoods, 
if  we  believe  the  assertion  of  our  author  in  his  Study 
of  Holy  Scripture. 

Dr.  Briggs  Denies  the  Biblical  David 

Hypercriticism  is  a  mental  phenomenon.  Its  cause  is 
natural  constitution.  In  all  its  disciples  there  is  a  defect 
in  the  logical  faculty.  Often  hence  the  plainest  argu- 
ment finds  no  response.  To  the  blind  we  can  not  inter- 
pret the  blue  of  the  sky,  or  to  the  deaf  the  roar  of  the 
ocean.  As  an  Athanasius  from  Arius,  as  Augustine 
from   Pelagius,  so  differs  a  Bishop  Lightfoot  from  a 

57 


Dr.  Driver.  The  genius  of  Hypercriticism  is  revealed 
in  the  statement  of  our  author,  that  textual  examina- 
tion is  the  "only"  way  to  "reliable  evidence".  Yet  ex- 
perience proves  that  nothing  has  ever  led  to  more 
absurd  and  monstrous  errors.  Literary  criticism  is  a 
byword  of  uncertainty.  For  nineteen  centuries  a  Latin 
inscription  staring  from  a  frieze  on  the  Pantheon  misled 
all  archeologists.  Psalmanazar  made  a  fortune  out  of 
a  lying  history  of  Formosa.  Lucas  sold  for  large  sums 
more  than  twenty-five  thousand  forged  letters,  many  of 
them  endorsed  by  the  French  Academy  of  Immortals. 
Young  Ireland  deceived  his  father,  a  lawyer,  who  per- 
suaded the  most  celebrated  critics  that  a  play  by  his  son 
was  a  work  of  Shakespeare.  The  puzzle  of  Junius  has 
never  been  solved.  Chatterton  imposed  on  literary 
London,  and  McPherson  cheated  cultured  Edinburgh. 
Even  our  modern  Lanciani,  supreme  in  Roman  antiqui- 
ties, was  beguiled  by  the  fib  on  the  Pantheon.  Yet  ex- 
cluding all  other  light,  Hypercritics  grope  and  crawl 
and  stumble  amid  obscure  and  conflicting  texts,  con- 
fused by  the  raw  mists  of  their  own  learning. 

For  proof  we  return  to  the  book  of  our  author. 

Prefixes  attribute  seventy-four  Psalms  to  David.  The 
remainder  have  an  uncertain  origin.  A  few  have  pecu- 
liar sacredness  because  in  the  text  of  inspired  Scripture 
they  are  referred  to  the  poet-king  of  Israel.  Of  these 
some  are  not  only  anthems  of  worship,  but  prophecies 
of  Messiah.  As  a  witness  of  our  Lord  each  is  holy  as 
an  altar  of  his  temple.  To  undermine  its  authority  is 
like  a  profane  touch  to  the  ark  of  Jehovah.  The  most 
sacred  Messianic  text  is  not  reached  in  the  present  vol- 
ume of  Dr.  Briggs,  but  it  is  embraced  in  his  obliterating 
methods.  As  he  has  assigned  Psalms  attributed  to 
David  by  Peter  and  Paul  to  the  times  centuries  after,  we 

58 


infer  that  the  prophecy  of  our  Lord,  by  Jlimself  as- 
cribed to  His  royal  ancestor,  will  by  our  author  be  re- 
ferred to  similar  periods. 

We  pause  to  remark  that  all  these  revolutionary 
changes  have  been  made  without  a  semblance  of  proof. 
For  two  centuries  the  hypercritic  magazine  has  been 
storing  its  weapons.  Where  is  Strauss?  Where  is 
Baur?  Where  is  Renan?  Where  is  Wellhausen? 
Where  is  Kuenan?  Where  is  Driver?  Where  is  the 
whole  formidable  army  with  its  irrestible  equipment? 
Surely  from  such  magazines  of  learning  our  author 
should  have  found  one  argument.  It  lie  has,  we  have 
not.  He  gives  us  the  results  of  his  textual  investiga- 
tions :  but  no  proofs.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  Inter- 
national Commentary  successors  will  be  more  liberal  in 
argument,  and  assume  no  pontifical  authority. 

Now  we  will  proceed  to  give  the  evidence  on  which 
we  believe  the  Psalms,  referred  by  inspired  Scripture 
to  David,  had  him  for  their  author.  As  representing 
all,  we  will  select  specially — the  Second,  the  Sixteenth, 
the  Eighteenth,  and  the  One  Hundred  and  Tenth. 

(i)  The  Jewish  Church  universally  ascribed  these 
Four  Psalms  to  David.  What  a  sublime  work  to  fix  the 
canon  of  the  Old  Testament !  Yet  for  this  we  are  in- 
debted to  learned  Hebrews :  men  for  ages  eminent  in 
erudition ;  devoted  to  the  purity  of  the  sacred  text ; 
Rabbis  in  schools  of  superlative  excellence ;  generation 
after  generation  giving  their  lives  to  Scripture !  Even 
the  affixes  to  the  Psalms  must  have  been  subjected  to 
their  scrutiny,  and  are  to  be  weighed  as  evidence. 

(2)  The  Apostolic  Church  universally  ascribed  these 
Four  Psalms  to  David.  Who  gave  this  opinion  au- 
thority? Men  chosen  by  Christ  as  His  witnesses  and 
promised  by  Him  the  guidance  of  His  infallible  Spirit. 

59 


(3)  The  Patristic  Church  universally  ascribed  these 
Four  Psalms  to  David.  To  whom  are  we  indebted  for 
the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament?  To  Greek  and 
Latin  Fathers.  Men  nearest  the  time  of  Christ  per- 
petuated and  confirmed  the  Hebrew  tradition. 

(4)  The  Medieval  Church  universally  ascribed  these 
Four  Psalms  to  David.  Its  ponderous  learning  was  not 
critical,  but  its  spiritual  instincts  are  more  reliable  than 
the  crude  and  proofless  and  destructive  generalizations 
of  modern  Hypercriticism. 

(5)  The  Universal  Church  since  the  Reformation  has 
ascribed  these  Four  Psalms  to  David.  Greeks,  Latins, 
Anglicans,  Protestants,  unite  in  testimony.  Is  it  said 
there  are  exceptions  ?  Yes !  Unitarians  and  Univer- 
salists  and  Hypercritics.  But  if  they  are  represented 
by  the  Commentary  of  Dr.  Briggs,  on  no  ground  of 
solid  argument.  To  our  author  and  Dr.  Driver  and 
Dr.  Peters  and  Dr.  Batten  and  Dr.  Paton  and  long  lists 
of  European  and  American  International  Commenta- 
tors, we  oppose  the  names  of  Luther  and  Calvin  and 
Melancthon  and  Edwards  and  Hodge  and  Burgon  and 
Alford  and  Westcott  and-  Lightfoot. 

(6)  Scripture  ascribes  these  Four  Psalms  to  David. 
The   Eighteenth.  —  1    Samuel   xxii. — "And    DAVID 

spake  the  words  of  this  song  in  the  day  in  which  Jeho- 
vah had  delivered  him  out  of  the  hand  of  all  his  ene- 
mies, and  out  of  the  hand  of  Saul". 

The  Sixteenth.  —  Acts  ii.  25.  —  Peter  said  —  "For 
DAVID  speaketh  concerning  Him,  I  foresaw  the  Lord 
always  before  my  face". 

The  Second. — Acts  xiii.  33,  36. — Paul  said — "As  it 
is  also  written  in  the  Second  Psalm,  Thou  art  my  son 
this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee. — For  DAVID  after  he 
had  served  his  own  generation  fell  asleep". 

60 


The  One  Hundred  and  Tenth. — In  Matthew  xxii.  41- 
46,  our  Lord  speaks  : — "While  the  Pharisees  were  gath- 
ered Jesus  asked  them,  saying,  what  think  ye  of  Christ, 
whose  Son  is  He?  They  say  unto  Him,  Son  of  David. 
How  then  doth  DAVID  in  spirit  call  Him  Lord,  saying, 
The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord  sit  Thou  on  my  right  hand 
till  I  make  Thine  enemies  Thy  footstool?  If  David  then 
call  Him  Lord,  how  is  He  his  Son?  And  no  man  was 
able  to  answer  Him  a  word". 

In  the  commentary  on  Psalm  xxii.  we  have  proof  of 
hypercritic  methods.  Jesus  dying  quotes  it  on  the  cross. 
John  tells  us  that  it  was  "fulfilled"  as  "Scripture",  and 
was  hence  Prophecy.  It  is,  therefore,  a  vivid  predictive 
picture  of  the  crucified  Messiah  which  could  only  have 
been  painted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  as  such  it  is  con- 
secrated in  the  heart  and  worship  of  Christendom. 
Nothing  in  the  Old  Testament  so  powerfully  confirms 
faith  in  the  New.  As  Prophecy  this  Psalm  in  all  ages 
since  Christ  has  been  hallowed  by  the  Universal  Church. 
What  does  Hypercriticism  say  ?  To  reverse  the  faith  of 
Christendom  what  proof  has  Dr.  Briggs  ?  Hear  him ! 
"We  cannot  think  this  prophecy.  The  reference  to  a 
historical  situation  is  unmistakable".  With  a  pen-stroke 
this  man  would  ink  into  blackness  the  glory  of  the  Holv 
Ghost ! 

This  treatment  of  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  not  surprising  when  we  see  all  that  our  author 
says  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  New.  He  teaches  that 
the  disciples  at  Pentecost  "Spoke  not  in  a  foreign  lan- 
guage, but  in  the  ecstatic,  frenzied,  unintelligible  spir- 
itual speech  of  which  Paul  tells  us  in  the  first  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians".  Here  again  we  notice  the  abyss 
between  his  Bible  and  our  Professor.  It  seems  a  chasm 
of  the  blackness  of  darkness. 

61 


Bible — "As  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance". 

Dr.  Briggs — As  frenzy  gave  them  utterance. 

Bible — "Every  man  heard  them  speak  in  his  own 
tongue". 

Dr.  Briggs — Every  man  heard  them  speak  ecstatic 
jabber. 

Bible — "We  do  hear  them  speak  in  our  own  tongue 
the  wonderful  works  of  Godv'. 

Dr.  Briggs — We  do  hear  them  speak  unintelligible 
spiritual  jargon. 

While  the  Holy  Ghost  crowns  the  Apostles  with  fire 
and  baptizes  them  with  power,  these  witnesses  of  our 
crucified  and  risen  Lord  talk  like  idiots !  So  teaches 
the  leader  of  our  Hypercritic  Commentators !  Let 
Christendom  adopt  his  emendations  of  his  Bible,  and  it 
will  speedily  eliminate  the  Holy  Ghost  from  its  Creed, 
and  Pentecost  from  its  festivals. 

Why  do  Hypercritics  select  the  time  of  the  Macca- 
bees as  a  period  of  Psalms?  Most  strangely  here  all 
presumptions  are  against  their  device.  Bloody  wars 
stifled  the  voice  of  song.  Heroes  fought  for  existence. 
Patriotic  battle  was  stained  with  cruel  carnage.  We  ask 
Dr.  Briggs  for  the  name  of  one  poet  in  that  stormy  age 
capable  of  writing  a  single  Psalm.  Do  Hypercritics 
suppose  that  gifts  of  genius  are  common  as  their  own 
inventions?  There  was  but  one  Homer;  one  Virgil;  one 
Shakespeare;  one  Milton!  And  David!  Is  he  less  il- 
lustrious than  the  crowned  kings  of  profane  verse?  If 
the  works  of  Drs.  Driver  and  Briggs  represent  the 
average  International  Commentator,  it  would  be  easy  to 
furnish  many  firmaments  with  galaxies  oi  such  nebu- 
losities. But  David  is  a  sun  in  a  different  sphere.  He 
shines  in  an  incomparable  glory.  But  once  in  our 
world's  history   has  the  Almighty  seen  fit  to  create  a 

62 


human  orb  of  such  immortal  splendor.     It  can  not  be 
blotted  from  the  firmament! 

Dr.  Briggs  Denies  the  Biblical  Christ 

He  who  brands  as  forgeries  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Num- 
bers and  Deuteronomy,  will  not  spare  Genesis.  Each 
hypercritic  spade-worker  digs  a  grave  for  the  Penta- 
teuch to  entomb  Moses.  Human  reason  can  not  credit 
lies.  If  the  condition  of  salvation  is  belief  in  falsehood 
I  shall  be  damned  forever.  When  Christ  taught,  the 
Pentateuch  existed  in  Hebrew  and  Greek ;  was  familiar 
in  Targums ;  was  expounded  in  synagogues ;  was  un- 
folded in  schools ;  was  in  the  homes  and  hearts  and 
memories  of  the  Jewish  People.  Invariably  it  was  as- 
cribed to  Moses.  Did  our  Lord  regard  its  author  as  a 
myth,  or  his  work  as  a  forgery  ?  He  whom  in  his  creed 
our  Clergyman-Professor  calls  "God",  "very  God  of 
very  God",  "by  whom  all  things  were  made"  ;  Teacher 
and  Savior  of  Israel ;  surely  knew  whether  the  Penta- 
teuch was  a  lie  imposed  as  truth  on  the  flock  for  whom 
as  their  "Good  Shepherd"  He  was  about  to  die !  Jesus 
spoke  of  the  "writings  of  Moses"  in  a  way  all  his  people 
understood.  Jesus  said  that  He  came  to  fulfil  the  Law 
of  Moses.  Jesus  in  His  Temptation  quoted  Moses. 
Jesus  ordered  sacrifice  according  to  the  commands  of 
Moses.  Jesus  at  His  Transfiguration  talked  with  Moses. 
Jesus  in  His  Eucharist  incorporated  the  Passover  of 
Moses.  Jesus  dying  conformed  minutely  to  the  sacri- 
ficial appointments  of  Moses.  Jesus  risen  expounded 
Moses.  Jesus  made  belief  in  Moses  a  condition  of  faith 
in  Himself.  Let  Dr.  Briggs  present  to  his  students  his 
forged,  mutilated  and  incredible  Moses !  Belief  would 
be  impossible.  Yet  to  reject  Moses  is  to  repudiate 
Christ.     So  says  our  Lord  Himself !     Thus  in  his  own 

63 


lecture-room  our  Professor  erects  impassable  barriers 
between  his  students  and  their  Savior.  Having  a  mis- 
sion to  improve  Scripture,  let  him  also  mend  creation  by 
turning  it  back  to  chaos !  Such  is  the  fatal  tangle  in 
which  Hypercriticism  would  involve  the  Gospel  of  Ever- 
lasting Life !  Such  is  the  net  of  contradiction  it  weaves 
around  the  Bible!  Such  is  the  inextricable  maze  of 
doubt  and  darkness  and  despair  into  which  our  Inter- 
national -Hypercritic  Commentators  would  lead  the 
Church  of  the  living  God ! 

But  no !  There  is  hope !  Out  of  Anglican  and 
American  ports  we  see  emerging  a  brave  fleet.  It  is 
manned  from  stoker  to  admiral.  Music  peals,  banners 
fly,  crews  exult  in  promised  victory.  Over  each  mast- 
head floats  a  streamer  with  the  inscription— INTER- 
NATIONAL HYPERCRITIC  COMMENTARY. 
We  wish  no  wreck  from  storm  or  battle — no  wound 
even  to  a  powder-monkey.  Towering  from  mid-ocean 
we  behold  an  ETERNAL  ROCK  crowned  with  a  sun. 
In  the  Everlasting  Light  that  splendor  typifies  may'  our 
youthful  navy  reverse  its  course;  throw  overboard  its 
charts,  its  ordnance,  its  pennants,  its  libraries ;  take  the 
old  untorn  Bible  for  its  compass;  blazon  its  banners 
with  Salvation,  and  with  us  fight  sin  and  Satan  and 
make  universal  over  earth  the  Kingdom  of  our  God- 
Savior  Jesus  Christ! 


64 


VI. 


PAGAN  AND  CHRISTIAN  ROME  IN  THE 
APOCALYPSE 


The  ancient  Oriental  world  was  often  taught  by  pic- 
ture. Before  the  portals  of  Assyrian  palaces  gigantic 
winged  bulls  with  human  faces  warned  monarchs  that 
strength,  swiftness  and  wisdom  alone  preserved  empire. 
In  Egypt  obelisks,  temples  and  pyramids  were  hiero- 
glyphic histories.  Animals  symbolized  the  divine  attri- 
butes. Largely  the  Old  Testament  is  a  system  of  types. 
Prophetic  pictures  of  Daniel  and  Ezekiel  took  color  from 
their  Assyrian  environment.  We  have  in  the  Gospels 
the  Lamb  as  an  emblem  of  our  Redeemer,  and  a  Dove, 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Empires  are  symbolized  in  the 
prophets  by  lions,  bears,  leopards,  eagles ;  and  also  by 
sun  and  moon  and  stars.  Deluge  and  eclipse  and  earth- 
quake denote  destructions  of  nations.  All  these  images 
are  combined  in  the  Apocalypse  with  a  variety  and 
sublimity  suitable  to  the  close  of  the  Book  of  God. 

John  informs  us  that  an  angel  was  commissioned  to 
tell  him  what  he  saw  and  heard.  The  divine  messenger 
had  been  on  earth  a  brother-prophet.  He  came  to  the 
exiled  Apostle  in  Patmos  in  the  reign  of  the  tyrant 
Domitian.     Before  the  eye  or  mind  of  John  this  angel 

65 


brought  a  succession  of  pictures.  In  themselves  these 
seem  grotesque,  bewildering  and  absurd.  But  we  are 
informed  that  they  are  prophecies  of  historic  events, 
and  are  given,  not  to  puzzle,  but  to  instruct.  Felicity 
is  promised  to  their  intelligent  interpretation. 

Warning  precedes  prediction.  It  is  addressed  to 
seven  Asian  Churches  imperilled  by  Judaism  and  Pag- 
anism. To  them  apostasy  meant  extinction.  The  angel 
begins  by  unfolding  a  divine  panorama.  Startled  by  a 
trumpet-voice,  John  sees  an  image  of  his  Savior — not 
in  His  earthly  humiliation !  Jesus  appears  in  the  majesty 
of  Incarnate  Godhead  prepared  for  judgment !  He  is 
clothed  with  splendor,  and  girdled  with  gold.  He  holds 
seven  stars.  He  has  in  his  mouth  a  sharp  sword.  As 
burning  brass  his  feet ;  as  flames  his  eyes ;  as  the  sun 
his  face.  White  his  head,  and  his  voice  the  sound  of 
many  waters.  Before  this  awful  Christ  John  falls  as 
dead.  The  Judge  then  speaks  as  Jesus  :  "Fear  not !  I 
am  the  first  and  the  last :  He  that  liveth  and  was  dead ; 
and  behold  I  am  alive  forevermore !" 

Our  aim  is  now  historical  exposition.  We  will  not. 
therefore,  dwell  on  the  fearful  and  faithful  apocalyptic 
warnings  to  the  Churches.  With  terrific  threats,  what 
promised  rewards  !  Only,  to  conquerors !  The  tree  of 
Life  in  Paradise  !  Over  the  second  death,  victory !  The 
hidden  manna  and  hospitable  stone !  Power  over  na- 
tions with  the  morning  star!  White  raiment  of  immor- 
tality !  A  temple  pillar  with  the  name  of  God !  Seat 
with  Christ  on  the  throne  of  His  universe ! 

A  preparing  imagery  introduces  prophecy.  The 
angel  shows  John  a  throne  in  Heaven.  It  is  the  seat  of 
the  Sovereign  of  all,  brilliant  as  jasper,  scarlet  as  sar- 
dine, encircled  by  an  emerald  bow  of  Mercy  and  terrific 
with  the  lightnings  and  thunders  of  Justice.     Types  of 

66 


Holiness,  seven  lamps  flame  over  a  crystal  sea.  Clothed 
in  white  and  crowned  with  gold,  twenty-four  elders  rep- 
resent the  Patriarchs  of  the  Law  and  the  Apostles  of 
the  Gospel.  Filled  with  eyes,  indicating  intelligence, 
four  life-creatures — soa — unite  in  ceaseless  worship. 
An  anthem  of  creation  precedes  the  song  of  redemption 
— "Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord,  to  receive  glory  and 
honor  and  power.  For  thou  hast  created  all  things  and 
for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were  created". 

Mingling  with  saints  and  angels,  who  are  these  Life- 
Creatures?  They  had  been  men.  In  the  next  Chapter 
ihey  cry — "Thou  hast  redeemed  us".  Hence  they  rep- 
resent human  spirits  in  Paradise.  We  see  in  them 
images  of  our  celestial  and  everlasting  ideal  of  holiness. 
The  faces  indicate  the  courage  of  the  lion,  the  gentle- 
ness of  the  calf,  the  wisdom  of  the  man,  and  the  loftiness 
of  the  eagle. 

Now  the  angel  exhibits  to  John  a  book  with  seven 
seals.  It  resembles  an  ancient  parchment-roll  and  is 
held  by  the  enthroned  Almighty  Maker.  This  book 
contains  the  prophecies  we  are  about  to  explain.  For 
its  interpretation  earth  and  heaven  are  challenged  by 
the  angel.  In  the  universe  none  is  worthy  even  to  look 
upon  the  roll.  John  weeps  in  disappointment.  An  elder 
speaks  comfort.  Now  appears  a  "Lamb  as  it  had  been 
slain".  Yet,  standing,  it  lives !  It  had  died,  and  risen, 
and  will  interpret.  Creation  bursts  forth  into  adoring 
ecstatic  song.  We  have  the  key  to  the  Apocalypse — 
Jesus  our  Incarnate  God;  our  Human  Brother;  the 
crucified  and  glorified  Savior! 

I. 

The  Apocalyptic  Prophecies  begin  with  a  series  of 
images  that  symbolize  the  agencies  which  overthrew 
Pagan  Rome. 

67 


I.     Interpretation  of  Seal  First 

"I  saw,  and  behold  a  white  horse,  and  he  that  sat  on  him  had 
a  bow,  and  a  crown  was  given  him,  and  he  went  forth,  con- 
quering and  to  conquer"   (ch.  vi.  2). 

Seal  First  is  opened  by  the  Lamb.  In  a  voice  like 
thunder  a  life-creature  cries — "Come  and  see".  Soon 
after  the  vision  of  Patmos  the  tyrant  Domitian  died. 
In  a  few, years  the  Antonines  succeeded  to  the  empire 
with  a  prosperity  the  historian  Gibbon  paints  as  the 
ideal  of  human  felicity.  Conspicuous  in  the  triumphs 
ascending  the  Capitoline  Hill  and  in  those  climbing 
Monte  Cavo  to  its  Latin  temple,  was  a  zvhite  horse, 
which  thus  became  an  emblem  of  victory.  The  apoca- 
lyptic rider  is  a  crowned  conqueror  going  forth  to  more 
splendid  dominion.  Yet  in  his  hand  a  prophetic  menace ! 
He  grasps  a  bow!  Not  a  Roman  sword  or  javelin! 
The  bow  was  a  barbarian  weapon.  Even  the  Antonines 
were  forced  to  employ  the  barbarian  to  defend  the 
empire.  Eventually  the  barbarian  bow  triumphed  over 
Roman  sword  and  javelin  which  had  conquered  a  world 
to  imperial  domination. 

2.     Interpretation  of  Seal  Second 

"And  there  went  out  another  horse  that  was  red:  and  power 
was  given  to  him  that  sat  thereon  to  take  peace  from  the  earth, 
and  that  they  should  kill  one  another:  and  there  was  given 
unto  him  a  great  sword"  (ch.  vi.  4). 

Prosperities  of  Flavians  and  Antonines  were  followed 
by  desolating  intestine  wars.  Red,  like  blood,  now 
colors  the  symbolic  horse.  His  rider  holds,  not  a  bar- 
barian bow,  but  a  Roman  sword.  With  their  own 
weapon  Roman  fought  Roman.  Hired  Goths  and  Van- 
dals and  Britons,  often  in  command,  terrified  the  em- 

68 


pi  re,  and  bestowed  the  imperial  diadem.  East  battled 
West,  and  North  slaughtered  South.  The  divine  eagles 
saw  their  legions  killing  one  another.  In  a  vivid  sen- 
tence the  Second  Seal  depicts  these  suicidal  wars.  Once 
nineteen  candidates  contended  for  the  purple.  Reeking 
with  Roman  blood,  barbarian  slaves  and  peasants  wore 
the  crown  of  the  world,  which  Julius  and  Augustus 
dared  not  assume. 

3.  Interpretation  of  Seal  Third 

"I  heard  a  third  life-creature  say  Come  and  see.  And  I  be- 
held and  lo  a  black  horse,  and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  pair  of 
balances  in  his  hand ;  and  I  lizard  a  voice  in  the  midst  of  the 
life-creatures  say,  A  chenix  of  wheat  for  a  denarius  and  three 
chenixes  of  barley  for  a  denarius,  and  see  thou  dost  not  in- 
justice— adikescs — the  oil  and  the  wine"   (ch.  vi.  5,  6). 

Rome  wasted  the  world  with  merciless  exactions. 
Oppression  in  the  provinces  fed  the  luxury  of  the  capital 
which  effeminated  the  empire.  Europe  and  Asia  and 
Africa  were  robbed  by  a  monstrous  greed,  always  clam- 
oring and  devouring  and  unsatisfied.  Plunder  made 
more  ravenous  the  appetite  it  sought  to  gorge.  Exces- 
sive tribute  cursed  Rome  to  ruin.  Hence  the  warning 
sign  of  this  Third  Seal !  Wheat  and  barley  and  wine 
were  life-necessities,  and  tempting,  therefore,  commer- 
cial greed  where  equity  demanded  a  fair  price.  Bal- 
ances signify  that  oppressors  will  be  weighed  in  the 
scales  of  the  Almighty  Justice.  Black  is  the  prophetic 
emblem  of  funereal  woe.  Tyrannical  exactions  will  be 
punished,  and  Rome  buried  under  the  wrecks  of  her 
dominions. 

4.  Interpretation  of  Seal  Fourth 

'And  I  looked  and  beheld  a  pale  horse  and  his  name  that 
sat   on   him   was    Death,   and   Hades   followed    with   him ;    and 

69 


power  was  given  him  over  the  fourth  part  of  the  earth,  to  kill 
with  the  sword  and  with  hunger  and  with  death  and  with  the 
beasts  of  the  earth"  (ch.  vi.  8). 

Cruel  oppressions,  remorseless  taxations,  corrupting 
luxuries  were  followed  by  devouring  wild  beast  and 
desolating  pestilence.  Ghastly  famine  wasted  the  world. 
Humanity  groaned  under  its  calamities.  From  Hadrian 
to  Constantine  History  pictures  this  terrific  seal. 

5.  Interpretation  of  Seal  Fifth 

"I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for 
the  Word  of  God  and  the  testimony  which  they  held.  And 
they  cried  with  a  loud  voice :  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and 
true,  dost  Thou  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth"!  (ch.  vi.  9.  10). 

Under  Nero  occurred  the  first  great  outburst  against 
Christianity.  Charged  with  firing  Rome,  martyrs  were 
torn  by  dogs  and  burned  as  torches  to  light  the  tyrant's 
Vatican  gardens.  A  decree  of  the  just  Trajan  legalized 
persecution.  Decius  enforced  the  worship  of  gods  by 
imprisonment  and  torture.  The  imperial  philosopher, 
Marcus  Aurelius,  kindled  even  more  destructive  fires. 
Urged  by  Galerius,  the  moderate  Diocletian  let  loose 
the  last  tempest,  which  was  exhausted  by  its  own  vio- 
lence. From  Nero  to  Constantine  myriads  perished. 
Their  blood  cried  to  Heaven.  Pagan  Rome  must  an- 
swer for  her  murdered  martyrs. 

6.  Interpretation  of  Sea!  Sixth 

"And, -lo,  there  was  a  great  earthquake;  and  the  sun  became 
black  as  sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon  became  as  blood ;  and 
the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto  the  earth,  even  as  a  fig  tree  casteth 
her  untimely  figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty  wind.  And 
the  heaven  departed  as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled  together; 
and  every  mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  of  their  places. 

70 


And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and  the  rich 
men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and  every 
bond  man,  and  every  free  man,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens 
and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  ;  and  said  to  the  mountains- 
and  rocks,  Fall  on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb :  for  the 
great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come ;  and  who  shall  be  able  to 
stand"?   (ch.  vi.  12-17). 

The  Roman  emperor  was  esteemed  a  god.  He  was 
called  divine  in  life,  and  worshipped  after  death. 
Shrines  and  altars  and  temples  were  consecrated  to  his 
memory.  A  vile  Nero  was  an  imperial  divinity !  The 
tyrant  Domitian  was  sainted — "My  Lord  and  my  God" ! 
Over  a  conquered  world  these  blasphemies  followed 
the  victorious  Roman  eagles.  But  the  crucified  Jesus 
triumphed !  His  cross  hurled  down  thrones  and  altars. 
Temples  of  Paganism  fell ;  its  priesthood  was  scattered ; 
its  magnificence  obscured.  On  the  throne  of  the  world, 
crowned  and  triumphant,  sat  the  Christian  Constantine. 
To  symbolize  this  stupendous  event,  images  from  earth 
and  heaven  are  summoned  by  the  apocalyptic  angel. 
The  world  shakes ;  the  sun  is  black ;  the  moon  turns 
blood ;  the  stars  fall ;  heaven  departs  as  a  scroll ;  islands 
and  mountains  remove ;  kings  and  princes,  bond  and 
free,  hide  in  dens  and  rocks  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb. 

7.     Interpretation  of  Seal  Seventh 

"And  when  he  had  opened  the  seventh  seal,  there  was 
silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of  half  an  hour"  (ch.  viii.  1). 

Constantine's  enthronement  brought  rest  to  Chris- 
tianity. Calm  succeeded  tempest.  After  centuries  of 
martyrdom  smiled  universal  peace.  This  tranquil  era 
is  sublimely  imaged.     Four  angels  hold  back  the  winds. 

71 


From  the  East  ascends  another  angel  to  seal  the  tribes 
of  Israel.  Converted  Gentile  nations  are  represented  by 
an  innumerable  triumphant  and  exulting  multitude  in 
white  robes,  having  palms,  cleansed  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  released  from  tribulation,  and  translated  into  the 
perfect  bliss  of  an  everlasting  salvation. 

The  end  of  the  Law  was  the  remission  of  sin.  Proph- 
ets witnessed  remission.  John  the  Baptist  promised 
remission.  After  His  resurrection  Jesus  commanded  to 
preach  remission.  At  Pentecost  Peter  proclaimed  re- 
mission. Our  Lord  came  from  His  glory  to  convert 
Paul  and  to  commission  him  to  teach  remission.  Hence 
to  show  the  way  of  remission  the  writings  of  the  great 
Apostle  are  supreme  authority.  In  Romans  he  makes 
remission  plain.  There  Paul  says  we  have  remission 
through  faith  in  the  Blood  of  our  Divine  Christ.  Be- 
tween the  soul  and  its  Savior,  for  remission  he  places 
no  priest,  no  bishop,  no  pope,  no  sacrament.  Faith  in 
the  Blood  of  our  Incarnate  God  is  "accepted  for  right- 
eousness" ;  our  sin  is  forgiven ;  our  guilt  cancelled ;  our 
persons  are  justified ;  and  we  are  reconciled  to  the 
Father  and  are  endued  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  tri- 
umph in  adoption  and  assurance  and  sanctifkation  and 
hope  and  peace  and  joy  and  victory. 

But  in  all  his  epistles  Paul  gives  proof  that  false  and 
feeble  men  detested  and  distorted  truth.  He  rebukes 
apostasy,  worldliness  and  immorality.  While  he  lived 
he  averted  the  perils  of  Judaism  and  Paganism.  In 
floods  the  evils  he  feared  came  on  the  Church  when 
Paul  died.  A  grotesque,  gigantic,  diabolical  midnight 
phantom,  Gnosticism,  bewildered  millions.  Heresies 
multiplied.  Even  martyrdom  was  sometimes  a  fanati- 
cism. When  its  prisons  were  filled  with  saints  two  rival 
factions    battled    in    Carthage.      Rome   was    torn   with 


*fc>< 


72 


strifes.  One  pope  fought  his  way  back  to  his  throne  in 
blood.  Ecumenical  Councils  degenerated  into  mobs 
where  Pagan  guards  policed  furious  ecclesiastics. 
Arians  and  Athanasians  filled  the  world  with  a  war  of 
rival  creeds.  The  eloquent  Chrysostom,  the  brilliant 
Ambrose,  the  oratorical  Gregories,  the  immortal  Au- 
gustine, through  their  saint-worship,  led  the  Church 
into  one  universal  idolatry.  Moral  corruption  followed 
doctrinal  perversion.  How  vile  was  Christian  Carthage ! 
We  have  a  letter  of  Augustine  beseeching  the  Bishop 
to  stop  drunkenness  in  Church  festivals,  which  the  peo- 
ple defended  by  pious  intoxications  at  Rome  under  the 
shadow  of  its  pope.  Salvianus  paints  a  dark  and  true 
picture  of  his  times :  "The  very  Church  of  God  which 
ought  to  be  in  all  things  the  pacificatrix  of  God,  what  is 
she  in  fact  but  the  provoker  of  God?  And,  a  very  few 
excepted  who  flee  from  evil,  what  else  is  almost  every 
assembly  of  Christians  but  a  den  of  vices?  For  you 
will  find  in  the  Church  scarcely  one  who  is  not  either  a 
drunkard  or  a  glutton  or  an  adulterer  or  a  fornicator 
or  a  ravisher  or  a  frequenter  of  brothels  or  a  robber  or 
a  manslayer.  Who  sin  at  this  rate?  Surely  not  many 
monks !  Ay !  Under  color  of  religion,  sold  to  worldly 
views,  these  men,  after  a  course  of  shameless  profligacy, 
inscribing  themselves  with  the  title  of  sanctity,  have 
changeed  their  name  but  not  their  life.  You  would  sup- 
pose them  not  so  much  to  have  repented  of  their  former 
crimes  as  to  have  repented  of  their  repentance". 


II. 

Historic  facts  prove  that  the  Christian  Empire  was 
ripe  for  Judgment.     And  it  came! 


73 


I.     Interpretation  of  the  First  Trumpet 

"The  first  angel  sounded,  and  there  followed  hail  and  fire 
mingled  with  blood  and  they  were  cast  upon  the  earth :  and 
the  third  part  of  the  trees  was  burnt  up"   (ch.  viii.  7). 


Under  the  Seventh  seal,  the  First  Trumpet !  Pros- 
pect of  catastrophe  had  silenced  Heaven.  John  saw  an 
altar  of  gold  whose  unaccepted  fire  was  hurled  in  wrath 
against  tlie  earth.  Seven  angels  receive  each  a  trumpet. 
Woe  peals  over  a  world  made  vile  by  an  apostate 
Church. 

A  great  State  requires  great  leaders  and  a  great  peo- 
ple. The  strength  of  the  many  must  be  guided  by  the 
wisdom  of  the  few.  Pagan  Rome  attained  sovereignty 
by  the  genius  of  generals  who  disciplined  and  com- 
manded a  conquering  soldiery.  What  the  Republic 
gained  the  Empire  lost.  Shall  Christian  Rome  recover 
and  save  a  divided  and  distracted  dominion  ?  Alas !  the 
brilliant  promise  of  the  victorious  Constantine  became 
clouded.  Salt  of  salvation  was  wanting.  Idolatry  in- 
vaded and  superstition  emasculated  the  Church.  Hero- 
ism perished  and  morals  were  corrupted.  "There  fol- 
lowed hail  mingled  with  fire  and  blood,  and  they  were 
cast  upon  the  earth,  and  a  third  part  of  the  trees  were 
burned  up,  and  all  the  grass".  Imperial  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal tyrannies  stifled  ability  and  enterprise.  Classes  and 
masses  sank  together.  Rome  was  paralyzed.  Goth  and 
Vandal  and  Hun  easily  subdued  an  imbecile  manhood. 
Hail  and  fire  and  blood  blasted  the  trees,  representing 
kings  and  princes  and  senators ;  and  devoured  wholly 
an  enslaved  and  degenerate  people  as  dead  grass  con- 
sumed by  Autumn  flames. 


74 


2.     Interpretation  of  the  Second  Trumpet 

"And  the  second  angel  sounded,  and  as  it  were  a  great 
mountain  burning  with  fire  was  cast  into  the  sea ;  and  the  third 
part  of  the  sea  was  blood ;  and  a  third  part  of  the  creatures 
which  were  in  the  sea  and  had  life,  died ;  and  the  third  part 
of  the  ships  were  destroyed"  (ch.  viii.  8,  9). 

Youthful  Rome  saw  that  unless  she  commanded  the 
Mediterranean  universal  empire  was  impossible.  She 
created  a  navy  and  in  three  years  conquered  Carthage, 
the  supreme  naval  power.  Rome  then  was  Queen  of  the 
world.  But  barbarians  menaced  by  sea  as  well  as  by 
land.  Goths  sailed  down  the  Euxine ;  took  Chalcedon ; 
burned  Nicomedia ;  appeared  before  Athens,  and  al- 
though repulsed  foreshadowed  for  Rome  eventual  loss 
of  naval  supremacy.  After  centuries  the  catastrophe ! 
Vandals  steered  their  fleet  from  Spain  to  Africa ;  seized 
Carthage ;  from  this  conquered  capital  dispatched  ships 
and  by  repeated  victories  dominated  the  Mediterranean. 
That  vast  essential  sea  became  to  Rome_useless  as  if 
heated  insufferably  by  a  mountain  of  fire  and  reddened 
with  unnavigable  blood  and  loathsome  with  the  putres- 
cence of  death. 

3.    Interpretation  of  the  Third  Trumpet 

"And  the  third  angel  sounded,  and  there  fell  a  great  star 
from  heaven,  burning  as  it  were  a  lamp,  and  it  fell  upon  the 
third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the  fountains  of  waters;  and 
the  name  of  the  star  is  called  Wormwood;  and  the  third  part 
of  the  waters  became  wormwood,  and  many  men  died  of  the 
waters,  because  they  were  bitter"    (ch.  vii.  10,  11). 

By  five  centuries  of  war  Rome  secured  supremacy  in 
Italy.  Thence  she  pushed  her  conquests  over  the  world. 
Her  armies  and  her  revenues  she  drew  from  Spain, 
Gaul,  Britain,  Germany,  Illyrium,  Greece,  Syria,  Pales- 

75 


tine,  Egypt,  Carthage  and  Mauritania.  Like  fountains 
and  rivers  these  countries  poured  enriching  streams  into 
Rome.  Her  fallen  fortune  is  visible  in  a  descending- 
star  which  turns  to  wormwood-bitterness  the  sources  of 
supply  to  her  imperial  life.  Christian  Rome  is  smitten 
to  poverty.  Infatuate  envy  killed  her  ablest  defenders. 
Stilicho  was  sacrificed  and  Belisarius  driven  to  despair. 
Goths  and  Vandals  and  Huns  took  the  West  and  Arabs 
and  Turks  the  East.  The  poison  of  death  was  in  all  the 
fountains  and  rivers  of  empire. 

4.     Interpretation  of  the  Fourth  Trumpet 

"And  the  fourth  angel  sounded,  and  the  third  part  of  the  sun 
was  smitten  and  a  third  part  of  the  moon,  and  the  third  part  of 
the  stars ;  so  that  the  third  part  of  them  was  darkened,  and  the 
day  shone  not  for  the  third  part  of  it,  and  the  night  likewise" 
(ch.  viii.  12). 

Centuries  of  tyranny  feeding  ■  vice  and  crime  and 
luxury,  prepared  for  the  conquering  hordes  of  Alaric, 
Genseric  and  Theodoric,  while  these  made  possible  the 
final  work  of  Odoacer.  By  sword  and  stratagem  he 
obtained  the  crown  of  Italy.  In  A.  D.  475  he  used  his 
power  to  abolish  the  dominion  of  Romulus  Augustulus, 
who  was  forced  to  sign  his  resignation  and  send  it  to 
the  Senate.  In  him  went  down  the  sun  of  the  Christian 
Empire  and  with  him  its  satellites.  Over  it — a  third 
part  of  the  whole — fell  the  darkness  of  night. 

5.     Interpretation  of  the  Fifth  Trumpet 

"And  the  fifth  angel  sounded,  and  I  saw  a  star  fall  from 
heaven  unto  the  earth ;  and  to  him  was  given  the  key  of  the 
bottomless  pit.  And  he  opened  the  bottomless  pit ;  and  there 
arose  a  smoke  out  of  the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace ; 
and  the  sun  and  the  air  were  darkened  by  reason  of  the  smoke 
of  the  pit.     And  there  came  out  of  the  smoke  locusts  upon  the 

76 


earth;  and  unto  them  was  given  power,  as  the  scorpions  of  the 
earth  have  power.  And  it  was  commanded  them  that  they 
should  not  hurt  the  grass  of  the  earth,  neither  any  green  thing, 
neither  any  tree ;  but  only  those  men  which  have  not  the  seal  of 
God  in  their  foreheads.  And  to  them  it  was  given  that  they 
should  not  kill  them,  but  that  they  should  be  tormented  five 
months :  and  their  torment  was  as  the  torment  of  a  scorpion, 
when  he  striketh  a  man.  And  in  those  days  shall  men  seek 
death,  and  shall  not  find  it;  and  shall  desire  to  die,  and  death 
shall  flee  from  them. 

"And  the  shapes  of  the  locusts  were  like  unto  horses  pre- 
pared unto  battle;  and  on  their  heads  were  as  it  were  crowns 
like  gold,  and  their  faces  were  as  the  faces  of  men.  And  they 
had  hair  as  the  hair  of  women,  and  their  teeth  were  as  the 
teeth  of  lions.  And  they  had  breastplates,  as  it  were  breast- 
plates of  iron ;  and  the  sound  of  their  wings  was  as  the  sound 
of  chariots  of  many  horses  running  to  battle.  And  they  had 
tails  like  unto  scorpions  and  there  were  stings  in  their  tails: 
and  their  power  was  to  hurt  men  five  months.  And  they  had 
a  king  over  them,  which  is  the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
whose  name  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  is  Abaddon,  but  the  Greek 
tongue  hath  his  name  Apollyon"    (ch.   i-ii). 

Exceeding  all  previous  judgments  the  calamities  now 
predicted  are  called  the  "First  Woe".  Descending  from 
his  visionary  heights,  Mohammed  flames  ruin  over 
earth.  After  years  of  failure  his  success  began  in  mur- 
der and  robbery.  The  sword  was  his  argument  and 
concubinage  his  reward.  An  eternal  harem  his  para- 
dise !  Arabs  understood  that  Gospel  and  rushed  to  his 
standard.  Their  conquering  war-cry  was,  death  to  infi- 
dels. Conversions  were  on  battlefields.  The  Angel 
shows  Mohammed  holding  the  key  to  an  abyss  out  of 
which  rolls  smoke  to  darken  and  suffocate.  Apt  image 
of  error  clouding  Asian  and  African  regions  once  bright 
with  the  glory  of  the  Gospel !  Enslaved  and  tormented 
Christians  are  well  described  as  stung  by  scorpions  and 
seeking  a  death  they  could  not  find.     Fitly,  Arabic  lo- 

77 


custs  symbolize  Arabic  armies  from  the  Arabic  desert. 
A  crown  of  gold  recalls  the  yellow  Mohammedan  tur- 
ban. Lion's  teeth  and  woman's  hair  complete  the  pic- 
ture of  the  fierce  soldiers  of  the  prophet,  trampling 
down  under  the  hoofs  of  their  horses  Western  Asia  and 
Northern  Africa  and  Southwestern  Europe.  Behind 
they  left  the  poison  of  their  creed,  deadly  as  the  scor- 
pion-sting. Of  these  blasting  multitudes  the  king  is  the 
angel  of  the  bottomless  pit.  His  name  in  English  is 
Destroyer ;  in  Hebrew,  Abaddon ;  in  Greek,  Apollyon ; 
and  in  History,  Mohammed. 

6.    Interpretation  of  the  Sixth  Trumpet 

"One  woe  is  past;  and,  behold,  come  two  woes  more  here- 
after. 

"And  the  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  I  heard  a  voice  from  the 
four  horns  of  the  golden  altar  which  is  above,  God,  saying  to 
the  sixth  angel  which  had  the  trumpet,  Loose  the  four  angels 
which  are  bound  in  the  great  river  Euphrates.  And  the  four 
angels  were  loosed,  which  were  prepared  for  an  hour,  and  a 
day,  and  a  month,  and  a  year,  for  to  slay  the  third  part  of 
men.  And  the  number  of  the  army  of  the  horsemen  were  two 
hundred  thousand :  and  I  heard  the  number  of  them. 

"And  thus  I  saw  the  horses  in  the  vision,  and  them  that  sat  on 
them,  having  breastplates  of  fire,  and  jacinth,  and  brimstones; 
and  the  heads  of  the  horses  were  as  the  heads  of  lions ;  and  out 
of  their  mouths  issued  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone. 

"By  these  three  was  the  third  part  of  men  killed,  by  the  fire, 
and  by  the  smoke,  and  by  the  brimstone,  which  issued  out  of 
their  mouths.  For  their  power  is  in  their  mouth,  and  in  their 
tails :  for  their  tails  were  like  unto  serpents,  and  had  heads-, 
and  with  them  do  they  hurt. 

"And  the  rest  of  the  men  who  were  not  killed  by  these 
plagues  yet  repented  not  of  the  works  of  their  hands,  that  they 
should  not  worship  devils,  and  idols  of  gold,  and  silver,  and 
brass,  and  stone,  and  of  wood ;  which  neither  can  see,  nor  hear, 
nor  walk ;  neither  repented  they  of  their  murders,  nor  of  their 
sorceries,  nor  of  their  fornication,  nor  of  their  thefts"  (ch.  ix. 
12-21). 

78 


One  woe  has  passed.  A  second  followed.  After  the 
Arab  the  Turk !  The  sin  punished  is  idolatry.  Suffer- 
ing had  not  produced  repentance.  Mohammed  called 
himself  the  Scourge  of  God,  to  inflict  judgment  on  wor- 
shippers of  saints  and  images.  In  creed  and  morals  the 
Oriental  Church  was  debased.  The  Arabic  conquerors 
themselves  became  effeminate  by  luxury,  and  unfit  to 
be  the  vigorous  agents  of  Justice.  After  a  century  and 
a  half  of  battle  and  victory,  in  A.  D.  762,  the  Caliphate 
was  removed  to  Bagdad.  Here  the  victor  Arab  ad- 
dicted himself  to  learning  and  pleasure.  But  to  the 
faith  of  the  prophet  he  converted  a  more  terrible  race, 
remorseless  in  its  cruelty.  Embracing  Mohammedan- 
ism, the  fanatical  Ottoman  founded  dynasties  in  Persia, 
Kerman,  Syria  and  Roum.  From  these  countries  went 
forth  the  four  angels  of  apocalyptic  vengeance.  The 
idolatrous  Eastern  Church  was  scourged  for  centuries. 
In  1453  the  Ottoman  Turk  established  his  throne  and 
harem  in  Constantinople.  There  he  now  rules  by 
strangulation  and  massacre.  John  beheld  his  innumer- 
able hosts  imaged  in  myriads  of  horsemen  riding  forth 
to  battle.  Streams  of  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone 
recall  the  cannon  of  Mohammed  II.  battering  the  walls 
of  Constantinople.  The  city  is  taken  and  the  cross  sup- 
planted by  the  crescent.  Serpent-heads  in  the  tails  of 
Bashaws  are  emblems  of  their  authority  more  dreaded 
in  peace  than  the  slaughter  of  war. 


John  now  sees  a  strong  angel.  Clothed  with  a  cloud 
he  descends  from  heaven.  A  rainbow  crowns  his  head. 
His  feet  resemble  pillars  of  brass.  As  the  sun  his  face. 
Seven  thunders  utter  sealed  prophecies.  A  pause  is  in- 
dicated, and  the  Eastern  Church  pictured  in  parenthesis. 
First  sweet  and  then  bitter,  a  little  book  is  received  and 

79 


eaten  by  John.  Then,  leaving  the  Greek  Church,  the 
Apocalypse  turns  to  the  Latin  as  the  great  histori-c  fac- 
tor of  the  future.  Under  the  Seventh  Trumpet  ends 
the  Drama  of  Time.  The  angel  sets  his  right  foot  on 
the  sea  and  his  left  on  the  land.  He  lifts  his  hand  to 
heaven  and  swears  by  the  Creator — "Time  shall  be  no 
more  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  Seventh  Angel,  and 
the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished". 

Taken-  by  the  Arab,  Jerusalem  is  now  held  by  the 
Turk.  The  land  our  Redeemer  glorified  is  ruled  by  his 
enemies.  Instead  of  a  temple  on  Mount  Zion,  a  mosque ! 
A  crescent  looks  down  on  the  very  place  of  the  Cross. 
By  Turkish  favor  Christian  pilgrims  visit  Bethlehem 
and  Calvary  and  Olivet,  sacred  by  the  birth  and  death 
and  resurrection  and  ascension  of  our  Lord.  Prophecy 
could  not  omit  such  a  condition.  The  Apocalyse  pic- 
tures history.  It  images  the  Church  through  the  dark 
centuries  of  Arab  and  Ottoman  oppression.  Amid  their 
gloom  some  faithful  witnesses  protested.  The  Church 
is  symbolized  by  a  temple,  measured  by  an  angel.  If 
trampled,  it  is  protected.  When  the  testimony  of  its 
martyrs  ends  they  die  to  rise  and  to  triumph.  While  I 
write,  devoted  missionaries  labor  in  Jerusalem.  The 
Sultan  sees  in  Constantinople  a  college  which  is  diffus- 
ing over  the  Orient  the  light  of  that  Gospel  predestined 
to  dispel  the  darkness  from  the  abyss  of  the  false 
prophet.  India  and  China  and  Japan  will  be  converted. 
As  by  an  earthquake  the  Turk  will  be  shaken,  and  the 
land  of  our  Lord  be  bright  with  His  glory. 


80 


VII. 


PAPAL  ROME  IN  THE  APOCALYPSE 


Roman  genius  for  war  created  the  Roman  empire. 
Victory  in  battle  and  wisdom  in  counsel  gave  universal 
dominion.  What  the  sword  won  policy  preserved.  The 
eagle,  king  of  birds,  was  a  true  symbol  of  the  invincible 
conqueror. 

In  her  first  Bishops  Rome  kindled  the  imperial  lust 
for  rule.  They  began  with  a  supreme  advantage.  The 
splendid  metropolis  of  the  world  shed  glory  on  the 
youthful  Church.  In  the  blaze  of  pagan  empire  Chris- 
tian pontiffs  were  transfigured. 

The  first  popes  had  slight  title  to  eminence.  But 
Innocent  I.  and  Leo  I.  and  Gregory  the  Great  made 
possible  the  *Roman  vision  of  a  dominant  universal 
Church.  Charlemagne  crowned  their  work.  On  the 
last  Christmas  of  the  eighth  century  Leo  III.  placed  on 
his  brow  the  diadem  uniting  Church  and  Empire.  Slow 
centuries  built  the  prelatical  structure. 

Only  Innocent  III.  practically  realized  the  pontifical 
dream  of  universal  autocracy,  and  not  until  Pio  Nono 
was  papal  supremacy  openly  declared.  His  Vatican 
Decree  completed  the  edifice. 

So  vast  a  claim  to  dominion  over  time  and  eternity  is 

81 


a  stupendous  fact  in  our  human  history.  As  Pagan 
Rome  fell  under  the  Seals ;  as  Christian  Rome  sank 
under  the  Trumpets,  weighted  by  Pio  Nono,  what  is  to 
be  the  future  of  Papal  Rome?  Prophecy  alone  can 
answer. 

Interpretation  of  the  Seventh  Trumpet 

First  the  Arabic  woe !  Second  the  Ottoman  woe ! 
Now  the  Third  woe !  Preceded  by  a  vision  of  final 
victory !  In  heaven  great  voices  proclaim  eternal  tri- 
umph. The  Temple  of  God  is  opened  and  the  ark  of 
testimony  is  seen*  with  lightning  and  thunder  and  earth- 
quake ! 

Aloft  another  wonder!  A  woman  clothed  with  the 
sun  !  Under  her  feet  the  moon !  On  her  head  a  diadem 
of  twelve  stars  !  The  Church  crowned  by  the  Apostles ! 
Now  the  woman  bears  a  man-child !  To  devour  it  ap- 
pears Satan  as  a  great  red  dragon  with  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns.  Before  our  fight  on  earth  was  war  in 
heaven.  With  men  now  expelled  angels  mingle  in 
battle.  The  child  is  caught  up  to  God,  and  on  eagle- 
wings  the  woman  is  borne  to  a  safe  wilderness.  Michael 
conquers  and  casts  out  the  dragon,  and,  while  Heaven 
helps,  Earth  aids. 

John  stands  on  the  sands  of  the  sea.  Empowered  by 
the  dragon,  and  his  resemblance,  a  beast  arises  with 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  Pagan  Rome,  with  her 
seven  governments,  on  her  seven  hills,  ruling  with  her 
ten  kingdoms !  Having  the  form  of  the  swift  leopard, 
the  roar  of  the  kingly  lion,  and  the  heavy  tread  of  the 
oppressing  bear.  Powerful  and  worshipped  and  perse- 
cuting ! 

Now  the  Apocalyptic  panorama  exhibits  a  mystic 
creature.     Suggesting  perfection  and  atonement,  the  in- 

82 


nocent  Christ-lamb  had  a  body,  and  also  the  Satanic 
Dragon  had  a  body.  Our  present  beast  has  no  body. 
Ascending  from  earth  it  reveals  but  the  two  horns  of 
the  lamb,  and  the  voice  of  the  Dragon.  The  horns  of 
the  Christ-Lamb  represented  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
voice  of  the  dragon  signified  lust  of  dominion  as  a  type 
of  Rome.  To  interpret  this  creature  with  horns  to 
slay,  and  voice  to  scare,  we  want  then  in  history  a 
power  seated  in  Rome ;  claiming  dominion  through 
Christ ;  speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  two 
uniting  agencies.  Our  search  is  for  a  spiritual  autocrat 
with  a  semblance  of  Rome,  a  semblance  of  Christ,  and 
a  semblance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  a  double  voice  de- 
claring lust  of  rule.  To  this  prophetic  picture  answers 
the  Papal  Church.  Its  head  rules  from  Rome,  claims  to 
be  the  Vicar  of  Christ  and  proclaims  himself  in  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  Pontiffs  and  Councils.  And 
in  a  rare  Greek  form  (Revelation  xii.  18)  we  have  his 
number,  which  is  666 — Chi  Xi  Zeta — Lateinos — 666. 

Lambda,  30 ;  Alpha,  1 ;  Tau,  300 ;  Epsilon,  5  ;  Iota, 
10;  Nu,  50;  Omikron,  70;  Sigma,  200  =  666. 

The  Papal  Church  is  Latin  in  its  name;  Latin  in  the 
language  of  its  worship,  and  Councils  and  Decrees ; 
Latin  in  its  Literature ;  Latin  in  the  race  from  which  it 
springs  and  governs ;  and  over  all  the  world  is  solicitous 
to  preserve  the  marks  of  its  Latin  origin  and  genius. 

Let  us  now  inquire  whether  History  shows  papal 
Rome  speaking  with  a  Dragon- Voice. 

Roman  Bishops  soon  aspired  to  ecclesiastical  autoc- 
racy. Over  East  and  West  popes  asserted  sovereignty. 
They  claimed  allegiance  from  Greeks  and  Latins.  As 
head  of  the  LTniversal  Church  each  pontiff  urged  his 
right  to  throne  and  crown  and  to  teach  kings  and  em- 
perors.    Leo  the  Great  said,  "As  being  the  see  of  the 

83 


blessed  Peter,  thou  Rome  art  head  of  all  the  world,  so 
as  to  have  wider  rule  by  religion  than  by  the  power  of 
earthly  domination".  He  voiced  the  hearts  and  lives  of 
all  his  papal  successors  down  to  our  own  age.  And  this 
stupendous  claim  to  the  spiritual  subjection  of  humanity 
is  based  on  their  own  interpretation  of  a  single  text  of 
Scripture !  All  arguments  in  all  the  writings  of  all 
pontificates  come  back  ultimately  to  this  sole  foundation. 
As  over  earth  all  imperial  highways  of  Pagan  Rome 
converged  to  the  Forum,  so  all  edicts  and  canons  of  all 
popes  and  councils  diverge  from  the  words  of  our  Lord, 
the  Rock,  to  Peter,  the  stone. 

From  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  a  roar  of  artillery 
announced  the  opening  of  the  Vatican  Council. 
Each  Church  in  Rome  peals  its  bell.  The  streets  are 
thronged,  and  the  wide  piazza  and  the  noble  colonnades 
of  the  grand  cathedral  become  filled.  Beneath  its  sub- 
lime'dome  Cardinal  Patrizi  celebrates  mass.  Above  the 
altar,  on  the  throne,  Bishop  Fessler  places  the  Gospels. 
Glorious  in  this  magnificent  pageant,  the  Holy  Father 
appears  in  the  utmost  gorgeousness  of  pontifical  splen- 
dor. The  Council  opens,  and  all  its  ability  and  learning 
are  for  months  occupied  in  its  discussions.  Nothing 
could  be  more  deliberate  than  their  final  decision.  On 
July  1 8,  1870,  amid  blazing  lightnings  and  pealing 
thunders,  while  earth  shook  and  heaven  grew  dark,  the 
Bishop  of  Fabriano  announced  the  Decree: 

"If  then  any  shall  say  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  has  the  office 
merely  of  inspection  and  direction,  and  not  full  and  supreme 
power  of  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  Church — let  him  be 
anathema! 

"We  teach  and  define  that  it  is  a  dogma  divinely  revealed 
that  the  Roman  Pontiff  when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra,  by  the 
Divine  assistance  promised  the  blessed  Peter,  is  possessed  of 
that   Infallibility  with   which   the   Divine   Redeemer   willed   the 

84 


Church    to    be    endued — and    if    anyone,    which    God    forbid, 
presume  to  contradict  this  definition — let  him  be  anathema" ! 

For  time  and  eternity,  by  this  Vatican  malediction 
Papal  Rome  curses  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  the  Greek 
Church ;  the  German  Kaiser,  and  the  Lutheran  Church ; 
the  King  of  England,  and  the  Anglican  Church ;  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  each  Protestant 
Church  over  an  entire  world.  Literally,  outside 
the  Latin  Communion,  it  places  humanity  under  its 
anathema! 

I  will  individualize.  With  all  facilities  of  training 
and  leisure  and  library,  I  have  examined  that  text  on 
which  itself  the  Vatican  Decree  rests  papal  autocracy 
and  infallibility.  My  reason  infers  that,  as  in  classic 
and  Septuagint  and  New  Testament  Greek,  Petros  is 
always  stone  and  Petra,  always  rock;  so  if  our  Lord 
had  intended  the  stone,  Peter,  He  would  have  said,  "epi 
touto  pctro",  on  this  stone,  Peter,  I  found  my  Church. 
Whereas  Christ  passes  by  the  stone,  Peter,  and  tells  him 
"epi  taute  petra",  this  Rock,  Myself,  just  confessed  the 
Son  of  God,  Jehovah  Incarnate.  Augustine  agreed  with 
my  interpretation.  Without  the  Council,  Dr.  Dollinger 
and  Lord  Acton,  the  most  illustrious  scholars  of  Papal 
Rome,  opposed  the  Vatican  Decree.  And  within  the 
Council,  the  learned  and  eloquent  Darboy,  and  Doupan- 
loup,  and  Strossmayer,  and  Hefele,  with  fiery  zeal, 
battled  Pio  Nono.  Yet,  for  my  interpretation,  supported 
by  Patristic  and  Catholic  and  Protestant  scholarship,  I 
am  to  be  damned  forever ! 

Asked  to  believe  in  the  Resurrection  of  my  Lord,  I 
examine  its  witnesses.  These  are  Jesus  and  His  Apos- 
tles. They  bear  every  test  of  truth.  My  reason  is  sat- 
isfied ;  and  when  commanded,  under  penalty  of  eternal 
death,  to  accept  the  Vatican  Decree,  I  have  a  right  to 

85 


investigate  the  men  it  pronounces  my  infallible  guides 
to  Heaven.  From  Clemens  Romanus  to  Pius  the  Tenth 
I  know  their  histories.  My  reason  refuses  to  accept  as 
infallible : 

The  Boy-Pontiffs — monsters  of  iniquity. 

Celestin  V. — a  semi-barbarous  anchorite. 

Innocent  III. — who  devastated  Provence,  and  excom- 
municated each  Baron  who  signed  Magna  Charta. 

Schismatic  Popes — who  polluted  Avignon. 

John  XXIII. — deposed  for  his  crimes  by  the  Council 
he  convoked. 

Sixtus  V. — whose  infallible  Vulgate  was  spotted  with 
his  own  unscholarly  blunders. 

Pius  V. — who  justified  Elizabeth's  assassination. 

Gregory  XIII. — who  applauded  the  St.  Bartholomew 
Massacre. 

Urban  VIII. — who  wrecked  Galileo. 

Pio  Nono — moulded  by  Manning,  who  is  proved  by 
Purcell,  his  selected  biographer,  to  have  been  a  man  of 
selfishness,  ambition  and  duplicity. 

As  this  papal  panorama  unfolds  to  my  vision  in  his- 
toric picture,  I  seem  to  hear  from  the  Vatican  Council  a 
Dragon-Voice  sounding  through  the  universe,  louder 
than  ten  thousand  Zambesis  and  Niagaras,  with  their 
mingling  cataract-roar. 

But  it  is  answered, — "The  Vatican  Council  declared 
only  a  theory.  Practical  application  was  never  in- 
tended''. What !  Years  of  preparation :  prelates  as- 
sembled from  all  regions  of  the  earth ;  vast  expense 
incurred ;  months  of  solemn  deliberation :  a  world 
anxious  for  the  result :  a  decision  preceded  and  accom- 
panied and  attained  and  announced  amid  most  impress- 
ive religious  services, — and  all  to  manufacture  mimic 
ecclesiastical  thunder  to   scare  slaves  and  infants  into 

86 


submission  !  No  !  Pio  Nono  was  in  earnest !  Witness 
his  procedure  in  reference  to  Dr.  Dollinger !  He  was 
the  most  illustrious  scholar  and  historian  of  Papal  Rome 
— stern  in  his  integrity,  and  saintly  in  his  life — a  theo- 
logical professor  eminent  and  venerated.  Nor  did  the 
Pope  wish  to  sacrifice  a  man  so  admirable  in  character 
and  exalted  in  position  and  reputation.  Thunder  mut- 
tered long,  but  no  lightning  struck.  At  last  the  bolt  fell. 
On  the  17th  of  April,  1871,  Dr.  Joseph  von  Prandt, 
Vicar-General,  and  Cathedral  Provost,  pronounced  sen- 
tence of  excommunication  on  Dr.  Dollinger  because  he 
rejected  the  Vatican  Decree  of  Pio  Nono ;  and  Lord 
Acton — the  most  learned  and  brilliant  and  magnanimous 
Catholic  since  the  days  of  More — Lord  Acton,  who 
charged  Cardinal  Manning  with  approval  of  Cardinal 
Borromeo's  letter  urging  Protestant  murders,  and  who 
said  of  Cardinal  Newman  that  he  was  "a  sophist :  not  a 
servant,  but  a  manipulator  of  truth" — Lord  Acton  ex- 
pected expulsion,  with  anathema,  from  the  Church  of 
his  fathers ;  but  as  a  layman  escaped  the  pontifical  curse! 

The  Vatican  Council  impresses  our  whole  American 
life.  In  our  country  we  are  too  often  shocked  to  see 
the  color-line  red  with  blood.  Death  ends  our  race- 
strife.  Resurrection-trump  will  transfigure  white  and 
black  into  the  image  of  the  glory  of  our  Divine  Re- 
deemer. Not  so  the  Vatican  Line !  It  passes  through 
the  grave  into  eternal  separation.  Standing  at  the  mar- 
riage-altar the  Catholic  Priest  commands  the  heretic 
lover  from  wedlock  in  his  flock.  Standing  at  the  door 
.of  the  Public  School  the  Catholic  Priest  waves  away 
his  children,  and  between  our  youth  builds  a  barrier 
high  as  heaven  and  long  as  eternity.  Standing  at  the 
portals   of  the  grave  the   Catholic   Priest   forbids   our 

87 


saints  his  cemetery,  and,  his  Vatican  anathema  in  one 
hand,  with  the  other  he  points  to  the  everlasting  fire  and 
worm.  Mistake  not!  On  the  18th  of  July,  1870,  Pio 
Nono  drew  the  line  through  our  Humanity,  and,  over 
the  world,  its  future  mental  and  moral  battle  will  be 
around  his  pontifical  banner  inscribed  with  his  creed — 
"Believe  in  the  Pope,  or  be  damned !" 

Interpretation  of  the  Vials 

As  Pagan  Rome  answers  to  the  Seals  :  and  as  Chris- 
tian Rome  is  verified  in  the  Trumpets,  so  we  now  are 
to  see  whether  Papal  Rome  is  visible  in  the  Vials. 

On  Mt.  Zion  behold  the  Christ-Lamb !  Harp  and 
Song  burst  forth  into  a  triumph ;  Elders  and  Life- 
Creatures —  Earth  and  Paradise  —  jubilate  together! 
Flies  over  heaven  an  angel  with  the  Everlasting  Gos- 
pel !  Babylon  is  doomed  and  Idolatry  denounced ! 
Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord !  Now  a  sea 
of  glass  mingled  with  fire !  Victors  over  the  beast  and 
his  image  exult  in  a  universal  salvation !  A  temple 
opens  in  Heaven !  Out  of  it  come  seven  angels  clothed 
in  pure  linen  and  cinctured  with  golden  girdles !  Smoke 
of  the  glory  of  God  fills  the  temple !  All  is  ready  for 
the  seven  last  plagues ! 

Interpretation  of  Vial  First 
"And  the  first  went  and  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  earth 
and  there  fell  a  noisome  and  grievous  sore  upon  the  men  who 
who  had  the  marks  of  the  beast  and  upon  them  that  worship- 
ped his  image"  (ch.  xvi.  2). 

On  March  nth,  A.  D.  15 13,  Leo  X.  was  crowned 
with  the  tiara.  Nothing  ever  exceeded  the  magnificence 
of  the  coronation.  "It  seemed  to  me",  says  a  narrator 
of  the  pageant,  "that  it  was  the  Redeemer  of  mankind, 
on  the  Palm  Sunday,  going  to  Jerusalem".     An  orator 

88 


styled  Leo  "Our  Shepherd,  our  physician,  our  god 
upon  the  earth".  He  was  painted  with  one  foot  on  the 
land  and  another  on  the  sea,  and  grasping  the  keys  of 
hade-;  and  heaven,  which  symbolized  dominion  over  the 
universe.  All  enemies  of  the  Church  seemed  subdued, 
and  her  triumph  forever  secure.  Yet  a  "grievous  and 
noisome  sore"  was  festering  amid  this  dazzling  success. 
Cancer  began  in  the  twelfth  century  when  Waldo 
translated  the  Bible  into  the  Romance  language.  He 
was  inhibited  by  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons.  This  spark- 
kindled  the  world  into  flame.  Two  centuries  later 
Wicklif's  translation  of  the  Vulgate  into  English  ex- 
posed the  heart-disease  of  Papal  Rome.  Luther's  Bible 
heated  pontiffs  almost  into  madness.  Successive  Angli- 
can versions  followed  and  commerce  and  colportage 
scattered  the  Scriptures  all  over  Europe.  War  began! 
Between  Pope  and  people  there  was  one  supreme  ques- 
tion— The  right  of  all  men  to  print  and  buy  and  sell  and 
own  and  read  the  Bible.  Rome  and  Reformation  repre- 
sented this  grand  issue.  It  will  be  best  understood  by 
quoting  some  edicts  of  the  time.  In  A.  D.,  1536,  Crom- 
well's Commission  ordered : 

''Every  parson  or  proprietary  of  every  parish  church  within 
this  realm,  on  this  side  of  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  a  vincula  next 
coming,  shall  provide  a  Book  of  the  whole  Bible,  both  in  Latin 
and  also  in  English,  and  lay  the  same  in  the  quire  for  every 
man  that  will  to  read  and  look  therein,  and  shall  discourage  no 
man  from  reading  every  part  of  the  Bible". 

In  contrast  with  this  order  of  Cromwell  was  the  de- 
cree of  Charles  V.,  enforced  by  his  son  Philip  II.  and 
endorsed  by  popes : 

"We  forbid  all  lay  persons  to  converse  or  dispute  concern- 
ing Holy  Scripture  openly  or  secretly,  such  perturbators  of  the 
quiet  to  be  executed,  the  men  with  the  sword,  and  the  women 
to  be  buried  alive". 

89 


To  stop  the  Bible,  Papal  Rome  interposed  its  Index. 
This  declared — 

"It  is  in  this  point  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the  bishops, 
and  inquisitors,  who  may,  with  the  advice  of  the  priest  or  con- 
fessor, permit  the  reading  of  the  Bible, — and  this  permission 
shall  be  in  writing". 

To  enforce  the  Index,  Papal  Rome  created  the  Inqui- 
sition. This  tribunal  tried  and  condemned  every  man 
who,  without  written  episcopal  license,  made,  or  sold 
or  bought,  or  owned  or  read,  the  Bible.  Over  Europe 
Pontiff  and  Emperor  combined  to  extinguish  liberty. 
For  centuries,  around  the  Bible  war  raged  between 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  In  Holland  alone  eighteen 
thousand  martyrs  suffered.  Sieges  and  battles  de- 
stroyed millions.  Spain  blazed  with  papal  fires.  France 
was  desolated.  Germany  ran  blood.  England  was 
aghast  before  Smithfield  fires.  Wars  and  martyrdoms 
could  not  heal  the  papal  "sore".  After  years  of  conflict, 
were  lost  forever  to  Rome,  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
half  of  Switzerland,  Germany,  and,  more  than  all,  Eng- 
land with  her  imperial  future  and  motherhood  of  our 
Great  American  Republic. 

Interpretation  of  Vial  Second 

"And  the  second  angel  poured  out  his  vial  upon  the  sea; 
and  it  became  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man  ;  and  every  living 
soul  died  in  the  sea"   (ch.  xvi.  3). 

Before  the  Reformation  papal  kingdoms  ruled  the 
ocean.  Holland  was  developing  the  maritime  enterprise 
which  made  her  illustrious.  To  secure  India,  Portugal 
circumnavigated  Africa.  Britain  had  begun  her  brilliant 
career  of  naval  supremacy.  Over  the  Atlantic,  Spain 
sailed  triumphant,  discovered  America,  revealed  the 
Pacific  and  found  immeasurable  riches  in  Mexico,  Peru 

OX3     - 


and  the  Philippines.  Catholic  nations  owned  the  navies 
of  the  world.  But  the  angel  "poured  out  his  vial  on  the 
sea,  and  it  became  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man,  and  every 
living  soul  died  in  the  sea".  Now  the  Pope  does  not 
control  one  great  ocean-power.  Holland  and  England 
became  Protestant.  Spain  lost  her  dominion.  Austria 
has  few  ships.  Italy  and  France  are  hostile.  Portugal 
is  a  sea-cipher.  England  and  Germany,  and  the  United 
States  are  monarchs  of  the  ocean,  now  to  popes  useless, 
politically  and  ecclesiastically,  as  if  filled  with  blood 
and  death. 

Interpretation  of  Vial  Third 

"And  the  third  angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  rivers,  and 
fountains  of  waters,  and  they  became  blood"   (ch.  xvi.  4). 

Once  the  wealth  of  Europe  enriched  the  papacy. 
From  every  kingdom  incalculable  sums  streamed  into 
Rome.  Countries  supplying  these  treasures,  were  the 
fountains  and  rivers  of  her  life.  The  three  Italian 
realms  represented  in  his  tiara  made  the  treasury  of  the 
Holy  Father  independent.  He  has  lost  all!  Not  from 
one  European  country  can  the  people  replenish  his  ex- 
hausted coffers.  To  the  Protestant  nations  has  passed 
the  wealth  of  the  world.  Catholic  kingdoms,  deficient 
in  enterprise  and  riches,  give  feeble  and  fitful  supplies. 
Long  the  three  most  valuable  regions  of  Italy  supported 
pontifical  power,  luxury  and  magnificence.  Now  the 
dominion  of  the  pope  is  reduced  to  the  Vatican  gardens 
and  palace,  which  yield  no  tribute*  Useless  for  life  as  a 
sea  of  blood  are  the  fountains  and  rivers  which  once 
streamed  fabulous  wealth  into  Papal  Rome. 

Interpretation  of  Vial  Fourth 

"And  the  fourth  angel  poured  his  vial  on  the  sun,  and  power 
was  given  him  to  scorch  men  with  fire,  and  men  were  scorched 

'91 


with  great  heat,  and  blasphemed  the  name  of  God  which  hath 
power  over  the  plagues,  and  repented  not  to  give  him  glory" 
(ch.  xvi.  8). 

Bestowed  by  Leo  III.  the  crown  of  Charlemagne  was 
the  sun  of  the  papacy.  To  save  the  pontiffs  the  Roman 
empire  was  revived.  But  beams  intended  to  cheer  were 
predestined  to  scorch.  For  centuries  popes  and  kaisers 
were  in  deadly  strife.  Wars  between  Guelf  and  Ghib- 
beline  desolated  Italy  and  Germany.  More  than  once 
Rome  was  pillaged  and  Europe  convulsed.  Friend  of 
pontiffs,  Charles  V.  seized  and  plundered  the  city  of  the 
Holy  Father,  and  his  son,  the  bigot  Philip  II.,  followed 
the  paternal  example.  Beginning  in  Charlemagne 
Papal  Empire  was  concluded  by  Napoleon.  He,  the 
last  imperial  sun,  "scorched"  Pius  VI.  This  pope, 
forced  to  Paris,  burned  with  humiliation,  when  Bona- 
parte snatched  from  his  pontifical  hand  the  Roman 
diadem  and  placed  it,  himself,  on  his  brow. 

Interpretation  of  Vial  Fifth 
"And  the  fifth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  seat  of  the 
beast,  and  his  kingdom  was  full  of  darkness,  and  they  gnawed 
tneir  tongues  for  pain,  and  blasphemed  the  God  of  Heaven 
because  of  their  pains  and  sores,  and  repented  not  of  their 
deeds"    (ch.  xvi.   10). 

The  throne  of  the  pope  is  in  Rome.  Here  the  ruler  of 
the  world  has  always  been  exposed  to  popular  violence. 
Only  by  pious  fraud  was  Gregory  the  Great  buried 
without  insult.  Leo  III.  suffered  outrage.  Pio-Nono 
fled  from  the  Roman  mob,  and  it  followed  his  corpse  to 
San  Lorenzo.  He  lost  the  choicest  of  his  dominions 
when  in  1859  France  defeated  Austria  at  Magenta.  In 
1870  Victor  Emanuel  seized  the  remainder  of  the  papal 
realm  and  made  Rome  the  capital  of  United  Italy.   Since 

92 


then  three  obscured  popes  have  been  voluntary  prisoners 
in  the  Vatican.  On  the  seat  of  their  power  "darkness" 
has  fallen.  Their  pigmy  dominion  is  full  of  doubt,  im- 
becility and  despair. 

Interpretation  of  Vial  Sixth 
"And  the  sixth  angel  poured -out  his  vial  on  the  great  river 
Euphrates,   and  the  water  thereof  was   dried  that  the   way  of 
the  kings  of  the  East  might  be  prepared"   (ch.  xvi.  12). 

Mohammed  began  his  career  in  A.  D.  606.  In  that 
year  Gregory  the  Great  was  crowned.  Prophet  and 
Pope  arose  together,  and  are  linked  together  in  apoca- 
lyptic, fall.  A  vial  on  the  Euphrates  indicates  the  Turk- 
ish power  which  rules  that  river.  Judgment  discharged 
on  this  enslaving  and  corrupting  tyranny  will  prepare 
the  way  for  the  servants  of  the  Church,  who,  conquer- 
ing by  truth  and  ruling  in  righteousness  and  blessing 
with  love,  the  ministers  of  salvation,  will  be  the  true 
kings  of  the  Orient  and  the  world. 

Interpretation  of  Vial  Seventh 

"And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  air,  and 
there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of  Heaven  saying 
— It  is  done!"     (ch.  xvi.   17). 

Air  encircles  our  earth.  Air  is  the  life  of  man.  Air 
is  a  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  invisible,  regenerat- 
ing, omnipotent  energy.  Yet  Satan  is  called  "prince  of 
the  power  of  the  air".  He  has  a  usurped  place  in  this 
vitalizing  and  world-embracing  atmosphere.  Over  his 
unlawful  dominion  is  poured  out  the  last  vial.  Voices, 
lightnings,  thunders,  earthquakes  signify  terrific  battle. 
All  Satanic  powers  will  be  overthrown.  Multiplied 
agencies  now  work  towards  final  triumph.  Bibles  have 
been  scattered  over  earth.  Missionary  organizations 
girdle  the  globe.    China  and  Japan  are  no  longer  walled 

93 


away  from  Christianity.  India  turns  to  Christ.  Manu- 
factures and  commerce  acquaint  nations.  Oceans  which 
divided  now  unite  mankind.  Steam  and  electricity  make 
humanity  a  fellowship.  Over- earth  we  may  expect  the 
Gospel  to  be  preached  with  a  new  power  and  nations  to 
be  born  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  our  crucified  and  glori- 
fied Redeemer  to  be  exalted,  and  through  Him  our  race 
to  return  in  joyful  reconciliation  to  the  Father  of  All. 

We  conclude  with  the  most  wonderful  Vision  of  Patmos 

It  pictures  Rome  Pagan,  Rome  Christian,  and  Rome 
Papal.  John  sees  a  wilderness.  On  a  scarlet  beast  with 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns  sits  a  woman.  She  is  filled 
with  names  of  blasphemy ;  decked  with  gems  and  gold ; 
arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet.  In  her  hand  is  a  cup  of 
abominations,  and  she  is  drunk  with  the  blood  of  saints. 

The  Vial-Angel  explains  the  meaning  of  the  vision. 

i. — The  woman  is  "a  great  city,  reigning  over  the 
kings  of  the  earth" — Rome  as  Pagan  and  Christian  and 
Papal. 

ii. — In  all  her  history,  Rome,  from  Romulus  until 
now,  is  "Babylon". 

iii. — About  the  city  the  waters  were  "peoples  and 
multitudes  and  nations  and  tongues" — innumerable  sub- 
jects over  whom  ruled  Rome  Pagan  and  Christian  and 
Papal. 

iv. — The  city  was  on  "seven  mountains"  which  seated 
Rome  Pagan  and  Christian  and  Papal. 

v. — There  were  seven  governments  and  ten  kingdoms 
— Rome  Pagan. 

vi. — The  woman  was  in  "purple" — Pagan  Rome. 

vii. — Also  "purple  and  scarlet"  were  on  both  woman 
and  beast — colors  of  Rome  Pagan  and  Christian  and 
Papal. 


94 


viii. — Decked  in  gems  and  gold,  the  woman  was  lux- 
urious— Rome  Pagan  and  Christian  and  Papal. 

ix. — Five  governments  had  fallen — Kings,  Consuls, 
Dictators,  Decemvirs  and  Triumvirs — Pagan  Rome, 

x. — John  lived  in  the  Sixth — Pagan  Rome  when  im- 
perial. 

xi. — Pagan  Rome  "was  and  is  not",  because  over- 
thrown by  Christian  Rome — and  "yet  is"  revived  in 
Papal  Rome  by  Charlemagne — in  one  sense  the  eighth 
head,  and  in  another  the  seventh. 

xii. — "Drunk  with  the  blood  of  saints  and  full  of 
abominations" — Pagan  and  Papal  Rome. 


Nor  must  we  be  confused  because  much  of  this  im- 
agery no  longer  applies  to  the  Latin  Church.  She  has 
experienced  a  salutary  reformation.  Yet  we  must  be 
true  to  history.  Once,  in  crimes  and  corruptions  and 
tyrannies,  Papal  Rome  exceeded  Pagan  Rome.  If  from 
Nero  to  Diocletian  the  blood  of  martyrs  was  a  river, 
battles  and  executions  sanctioned  by  pontiffs  might  have 
reddened  an  ocean.  Imperial  vices  and  crimes  were  less 
revolting  than  papal  enormities.  No  page  of  history  is 
blacker  and  bloodier  than  the  record  of  Medieval  Rome. 

That  I  might  understand  its  past,  I  made  my  pilgrim- 
age to  the  pontifical  city.  For  five  months  I  lived  amid 
seats  and  scenes  where  popes  learned  to  rule  the  world. 
From  porch  to  ball  I  have  explored  and  admired  St. 
Peter's.  On  Monte  Cavo,  where  rose  sublime  the  an- 
cient Latin  temple,  I  have  stood  and  surveyed  from  the 
sea  to  the  mountains,  the  Campagna,  during  successive 
ages  centered  by  the  republican,  the  imperial  and  the 
pontifical  city.  In  the  venerable  convent  of  San  An- 
tonio, for  ten  weeks,  I  slept  in  a  monk's  cell,  dined  in  a 

95 


monk's  refectory,  had  pictured  to  my  eyes  a  monk's 
life :  in  my  ears  the  roar  and  murmur  of  cataract  and 
cascade,  and  ever  visible  down  the  valley  of  the  classic 
Anio,  the  papal  capital,  crowned  by  that  dome  whose 
grace  and  grandeur  best  image  the  soul  of  Michael 
Angelo.  Affected  and  exalted  by  such  memories,  I 
have  sought  a  mental  vision  unclouded  by  prejudice. 
Nor  am  I  conscious  of  coloring  or  distorting  facts  to 
verify  prophecy. 

Also  I  remember  gratefully  the  debt  of  Christianity 
to  Papal  Rome.  She  commissioned  the  heroic  mission- 
aries who  evangelized  Europe,  and  prepared  for  the 
Reformation.  On  her  saint-roll  she  has  those  who, 
like  Francis  of  Assisi  and  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  glowed 
with  the  love  of  the  Savior.  Over  the  world,  under  her 
banner,  she  commands  armies  of  devout  monks,  pious 
nuns,  consecrated  priests  and  excellent  bishops,  cease- 
less in  humane  effort  to  relieve  mortal  misery.  Almighty 
God  bless  them  in  their  benevolent  vocation !  And  with 
them  we  ascribe  our  salvation  to  the  atoning  blood  of 
our  Incarnate  God  and  Redeemer  and  the  power  of  his 
Holy  Spirit.  We  are  all  pilgrims  to  a  Heaven  where 
earth-discords  are  hushed  in  everlasting  love.  Hence 
we  believe  that  the  judgments  of  the  Almighty  are  im- 
mediately on  the  creators  and  directors  of  the  System, 
and  remotely  only  on  the  men  and  women  and  children 
born  and  taught  under  its  shadow.  Punishment,  too,  is 
not  for  destruction,  but  for  discipline  and  purification. 
Popes  and  Conclaves  and  Councils  sought  by  the 
Church  power  and  wealth  and  luxury.  For  this — pun- 
ishment !  But  also,  we  hope,  Reform.  Already,  is  not 
Papal  Rome  experiencing  moral  renovation?  May  she 
shine  forth  from  the  Vatican  in  the  splendor  of  the 
glory  of  the  pure  Gospel ! 

96 


VIII. 

DIVINE   SOVEREIGNTY 


The  sovereignty  of  a  state  is  that  supreme  authority 
which  makes  its  institutions  and  executes  its  laws.  An 
earthly  commonwealth  illustrates  the  government  of  a 
universe.  Our  illimitable  creation,  Science  informs  us, 
is  composed  of  innumerable  suns  and  systems.  Over 
this  magnificent  populated  empire  Scripture  reveals,  as 
author  of  all,  Almighty  God  exercising  the  supremacy 
of  a  wise  and  just  and  loving  sovereignty. 

Divine  revelation  does  not  confront  us  with  a  philoso- 
phy, but  with  a  government.  It  commands  by  right  our 
obedience  with  penalty.  Scripture  is  a  statute  from 
the  Creator.  Biblical  Theology  rests  on  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Genesis  which  represents  God  as  the  Omnipotent 
Maker,  and  hence  the  rightful  owner  and  ruler  of  His 
universe. 

Buried  beneath  the  earth's  surface,  what  more  useless 
than  gold  ?  Sink  the  shaft !  Pierce  the  vein !  Hoist 
the  ore !  Crush  the  rock !  When  you  have  separated 
those  glittering  particles,  and  smelted  and  shaped  and 
stamped,  you  issue  from  the  mint  coins  indispensable 
to  the  traffic  of  the  world.  From  the  first  stroke  of  the 
pick  to  the  last  clatter  of  your  die-press,  labor  gives 

97 


value  to  your  money.  Brain  and  hand  unite  in  creating 
a  circulating  currency  useful  to  commerce.  Yet  in  his 
work  man  can  not  supply  the  raw  material.  As  he  goes 
to  the  mountain  for  his  ore,  so  in  quarry  and  forest  he 
seeks  the  rock  and  the  timber  for  his  dwelling.  Hence 
his  ownership  is  partial.  Even  the  brain  which  plans, 
and  the  hand  which  executes,  are  the  gifts  of  another. 
Xot  from  himself  the  light  in  which  he  toils,  the  air  he 
breathes,  and  the  food  on  which  he  lives.  Man  has  no 
title  to  himself.  Human  dependence  '  limits  human 
ownership.  How  different  with  God!  His  right  of 
Sovereignty  is  absolute,  universal  and  everlasting. 

In  simple  and  sublime,  yet  only  in  general  terms, 
Scripture  describes  Omnipotence,  Omniscience  and 
Omnipresence  in  Creation.  Science  reveals  an  infini- 
tude filled  with  wheeling  and  shining  worlds.  Yet,  be- 
yond our  earth  her  universe  is  a  boundless  and  lifeless 
mechanism.  All  she  sees  is  illimitable  matter.  Dead 
globes,  so  far,  have  rewarded  here  telescopes.  Systems 
Science  beholds  void  of  life  Scripture  peoples  with  in- 
numerable angels.  Jehovah  of  hosts  is  a  sublime  title 
of  the  Almighty.  Before  His  throne  the  Bible  pictures 
armies  of  cherubim  and  seraphim.  Myriads  of  creatures 
sing  and  fly  at  the  command  of  their  Maker.  The  dawn 
of  creation  was  saluted  by  the  morning  stars.  Celestial 
watchers  flamed  before  the  gate  of  Paradise.  Moun- 
tains shone  with  the  glory  of  the  guardians  about  the 
prophet.  Angels  announced  our  Lord;  sang  at  His 
birth  ;  helped  after  His  temptation ;  strengthened  in  His 
ateon.y;  guarded  His  tomb,  and  standing  on  earth  wit- 
nessed His  ascension  into  Heaven  ;  and  will  mingle  with 
His  voice  their  trumpet-calls  to  resurrection,  and  shine 
with  His  saints  in  His  everlasting  kingdom. 

98 


Yet  telescope  and  photograph  give  no  signs  of  such 
countless  creatures  as  are  revealed  to  us  in  the  Bible. 

Let  us  turn  our  gaze  in  the  opposite  direction !  From 
the  illimitable  we  will  descend  to  the  minute.  Consider 
a  water-drop !  Take  it  from  a  mountain-spring !  It  is 
a  proverbial  image  of  purity.  The  eye  testifies  that  the 
small  sparkling  globe  is  inanimate.  Not  one  visible 
proof  of  life !  For  centuries  mankind  believed  their 
sight,  pronounced  the  dew-drop  uninhabited,  and  were 
mistaken.  The  microscope  proved  ages  of  humanity  in 
error.  Each  drop  of  spring  and  bush  teems  with  rest- 
less, whirling,  intense,  voracious  life.  Ocean  is  alive 
with  invisible  infusoria.  The  unperceived  animalcules 
of  Science  are  not  only  beyond  computation,  but  beyond 
conception.  She  has  revealed  an  infinitely  minute  ani- 
mated universe. 

For  a  drop  substitute  an  ocean !  Within  our  recol- 
lection it  was  taught  that  life  on  its  bottom  was  impos- 
sible. How  could  it  be  supported  without  air  and  light? 
Pressure  of  miles  of  water,  it  was  argued,  must  col- 
lapse all  animal  organism.  Again  Science  has  reversed 
a  conclusion  which  seemed  rational  and  inevitable.  We 
have  cabled  six  miles  below  the  surface  of  the  ocean, 
and  drawn  up  its  clay,  which  proves  those  deep  and 
dark  abysses  to  have  been  peopled  with  myriads  of 
mysterious  monsters  having  organisms  suited  to  their 
environment.  W'ith  porous,  spongy  bodies,  they  escape 
the  destruction  of  pressure.  Some  of  the  strange  ocean 
creatures  generate  electricity.  Galvanic  batteries  illumi- 
nate Atlantic  and  Pacific  depths.  One  species,  like 
miners,  carry  their  lamps  in  their  heads. 

Polar  seas,  whose  cold  seemed  death,  swarm  with 
life.  Greenland's  ice-fields  are  inhabited.  Amid  re- 
gions of  eternal  snow  the  mountain-climber  has  found 

99 


an  oasis  of  verdure,  with  the  bloom  of  flowers  and  the 
hum  of  insects.  Old  Laurentian  rocks  are  now  known 
to  be  rilled  with  minute  fossils,  showing  life  in  ancient 
cycles  where  it  was  least  expected  and  even  pronounced 
impossible. 

The  moon  has  no  discovered  atmosphere.  On  one 
side  are  the  gloom  and  chill  of  perpetual  night.  Under 
such  conditions  our  terrestrial  vegetables  and  animals 
could  not  exist.  Man  could  no  more  live  in  Mars  than 
a  whale  on  land.  He  would  be  consumed  in  the  furnace 
of  the  sun.  Nor  could  he  have  a  home  in  the  systems 
which  sweep  and  blaze  at  immeasurable  distances  from 
our  solar  worlds. 

Has  then  the  universe  none  of  the  angels  which  peo- 
ple our  Bibles?  Let  us  remember  the  revolutions  pro- 
duced by  Science !  Between  polar  and  equatorial  life ; 
between  life  at  the  ocean-bottom  and  life  on  the  ocean- 
surface  ;  between  life  in  the  era  of  the  Laurentian  rocks, 
and  life  in  modern  man,  the  difference  is  as  great  as 
would  be  between  any  possible  conditions  of  life  on  our 
globe,  and  life  in  Jupiter,  or  Orion,  or  Auriga.  As  we 
find  life  adapted  to  inconceivable  extremes  on  our 
planet,  so  we  may  find  life  adapted  to  inconceivable  ex- 
tremes in  all  the  regions  of  the  universe.  Scripture  and 
Science  alike  people  creation.  Enormous  refracting  and 
reflecting  telescopic  lenses  and  mirrors  may  show  us 
the  citizens  of  Mars,  as  the  microscope  discloses  its  un- 
suspected billions.  All  scientific  analogy  is  on  the  side 
of  the  Bible.  How  much  more  rational  and  exalted  to 
suppose  in  the  worlds  of  space  intellectual  beings,  lofty 
spiritual  activities,  making  joyful  a  universe,  than  to 
conceive  creation  an  illimitable  solitude  of  senseless 
atoms  which  whirl  in  inanimate  globes,  and  compose  a 
vast,  hard,  material,  insentient  mechanism ! 

ioo 


The  sovereignty  of  God  over  worlds  of  dead  matter  is 
different  from  his  empire  over  myriads  of  free  and 
exalted  intelligences.  A  divine  monarchy  over  men  and 
angels  presumes — 

I. 

A  predestination  compatible  with  liberty. 

An  Omniscient  Creator  must  know  all  that  will  ever 
happen  in  his  universe.  In  his  view  alike  the  eternity 
past  and  the  eternity  future.  Unless  He  sees  all  He 
can  not  govern  all.  Chance  and  sovereignty  are  incom- 
patible. Foreknowledge  implies  Predestination,  and 
superficially  seems  irreconcilable  with  spiritual  freedom. 
But  let  us  remember  that  the  opposite  of  liberty  is  not 
certainty,  but  constraint.  To  all  acts  that  happen,  free 
or  forced,  certainty  attaches.  If  all  I  think,  feel,  will 
and  do  is  eternal  certainty,  so  in  all  I  think,  feel,  will 
and  do  I  have  conscious  liberty. 

II. 

In  Almighty  Sovereignty  are  no  caprice  or  tyranny. 
Mortal  infirmities  never  degrade  the  everlasting  decrees 
of  an  infallible  Creator.  He  governs  his  universe  with 
the  eternal  justice  and  wisdom  and  love  of  his  change- 
less Godhead. 

III. 

Our  Divine  Monarch  rules  the  creatures  He  has  made 
according  to  the  idiosyncracies  He  has  ordained.  He 
has  as  much  regard  to  the  nature  of  his  gnat  as  to  the 
nature  of  his  archangel.  Is  each  atom  of  his  universe 
derived  from  Him  and  known  to  Him  and  directed  by 
Him  in  all  the  mutations  of  its  eternal  history?  Equally 
familiar  to  Him  the  aptitudes  and  needs  and  desires  of 

ioi 


his  least  and  most  exalted  creatures.  Over  all  he  rules 
according  to  the  material  and  spiritual  laws  his  wise  and 
righteous  and  merciful  Sovereignty  has  ordained  for 
the  happiness  of  his  universe  and  the  glory  of  his  God- 
head. 


102 


IX. 


JEWS  AND  MESSIAH 


First 

The  Jew  is  a  perpetual  puzzle.  He  reverses  the  ordi- 
nary laws  of  our  humanity.  Why  do  not  his  national 
glories  propitiate  the  world  to  give  him  honor?  A 
Hebrew  gains  from  illustrious  ancestors  no  distinction, 
where  others  with  a  less  splendid  descent  have  universal 
and  everlasting  praise.  We  hallow  the  land  whose 
language  expresses  the  soul  of  immortal  Homer.  The 
genius  which  created  the  Parthenon  endears  the  very 
rocks  of  classic  Athens.  Her  poets  and  orators  and 
statesmen  and  philosophers  bring  Greece  the  reverence 
of  the  ages.  In  Italy  the  modern  Roman  shines  in  the 
splendor  of  his  past.  England  and  France  and  Ger- 
many and  America  are  illuminated  by  memories  of  their 
illustrious  dead.  Noble  ancestors  transmit  their  glory  to 
remotest  posterities.  Why  is  the  Jew  an  exception  to 
a  law  founded  in  nature?  He  transcending  all  is 
praised  by  few.  High  above  Greece  and  Rome  soar  the 
sublimities  of  Job.  What  Gentile  genius  rivals  Moses 
and  Paul?  David  sings  to  all  nations  and  races  and 
ages.  No  classic  literature  equals  the  imagery  of  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel.     The  vivid  prophetic  pictures  of 

103 


Daniel  are  possible  only  to  a  gifted  Hebrew.  If  we 
pass  from  Judaism  to  Christianity,  the  writings  of  the 
Apostles  outshine  and  outsell  all  mere  literary  produc- 
tions. 

Why  does  not  all  this  glory  of  the  past  descend  upon 
the  Jew?  Why  his  racial  isolation?  Why  his  universal 
disesteem?  The  world's  estimate  of  the  Jew  seems  un- 
just and  ungenerous.  Surpassing  all  he  is  slighted  by 
all.  Nor  is  it  his  commercial  aptitude  and  success 
which  bring  over  him  a  cloud.  Should  he  turn  from 
gain,  advance  science,  shine  in  literature,  lead  in  war 
and  statesmanship,  his  most  brilliant  achievements 
would  not  command  the  reverence  to  which  he  is  en- 
titled by  the  fame  of  his  fathers.  The  cause  of  his 
universal  depreciation  is  a  difference  from  them  which 
is  radical  and  immutable.  Essentials,  not  accidentals, 
distinguish  his  character,  which  men  instinctively  feel 
has  its  root  in  some  great  falsehood.  If  Abraham  was 
a  Jew ;  if  Moses  was  a  Jew ;  if  David  was  a  Jew ;  if  each 
prophet  and  writer  of  Hebrew  Scripture  was  a  Jew, 
then  no  modern  Jew  is  a  Jew  or  can  be  a  Jew.  Between 
his  religion  and  that  of  his  ancestors  is  an  impassable 
abyss.  To  bridge  it  is  impossible.  One  hour  created 
this  eternal  barrier.  It  was  made  by  a  rude,  unnamed 
and  ignoble  agent.  Behold  a  torch  grasped  by  a  Roman 
soldier!  He  is  seized  with  fiendish  frenzy.  He  defies 
even  the  will  of  his  emperor.  He  hurls  his  brand  flam- 
ing into  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Its  sheeted  fire  rises 
henceforth,  forever,  between  the  fathers  and  their  sons. 
Jews  now  can  no  more  follow  the  religion  of  their  pious 
ancestors  than  they  can  command  the  temple  from  its 
ruins  back  into  its  supreme  glory  and  majesty. 

Let  it  be  observed,  we  are  not  seeking  superficial  and 
temporary  difference.     We  look  for  that  which  is  uni- 

104 


versal  and  ineradicable  in  Hebrew  racial  character.  I 
will  illustrate  by  a  communion,  which,  like  the  Jews, 
separates  itself  from  humanity  outside  its  own  creed. 
An  American  Roman  Catholic  denies  the  infallibility 
and  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  In  New  York  he  founds 
an  episcopal  throne.  Such  a  Catholic  may  cling  to  all 
else  in  his  creed.  He  may  adore  as  god  the  sacramental 
bread.  He  may  invoke  each  saint  in  his  calendar.  He 
may  confess  and  be  absolved  by  his  priest.  He  may 
sprinkle  himself  with  holy  water,  and  bestow  alms,  and 
bow  and  genuflect,  and  incense,  and  multiply  minute 
observances.  In  vain  !  He  who  denies  pontifical  infal- 
libility is  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  a  painted  sep- 
ulcher ;  an  ornamented  sham  ;  a  living  lie ;  an  apist,  not 
a  papist. 

Jews  believe  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  With  their 
ancestors,  Him  they  worship  as  Creator  of  all.  Parallel 
with  Almighty  sovereignty  they  hold  another  universal 
truth.  Like  their  fathers,  they  see  the  holiness  of  God 
through  the  clouds  of  their  own  human  guilt.  Hebrew 
Scripture  paints  man  in  colors  blacker  than  profane 
history.  Through  inspired  Jews,  the  supreme  object  of 
revelation  in  their  national  oracles  was  to  show  the 
plan  of  God  in  the  remission  of  sin.  Here  was  the  key 
to  the  eternal  election  and  temporal  discipline  of  Israel. 
Abel  began  a  sacrificial  system  perpetuated  through 
patriarchs  and  organized  by  Moses.  The  Paschal  Sup- 
per originating  the  worship  of  the  Jew  was  a  salvation 
from  a  death-angel  menacing  disobedience  with  de- 
struction. Our  modern  Hebrews  boast  the  con- 
demning law  of  the  thundering  Sinai,  and  forget 
the  grace  of  the  tabernacle  symbolizing  redemption,  and 
where  sin  was  remitted  by  sacrifice.  They  regard  as 
superfluous  that  blood  on  the  altar  which  their  fathers 

105 


believed  to  be  the  only  means  of  personal  forgiveness. 
Was  the  call  of  Moses  useless?  Was  the  paschal  lamb 
useless?  Was  the  covenant  blood  sprinkling  book  and 
people  at  the  base  of  Sinai  useless?  Then,  indeed,  is 
Moses  mockery.  A  trick  was  his  ascent  to  the  visible 
Jehovah.  Amid  his  glory  the  tabernacle  was  not  com- 
manded. Instead  of  witnessing  sacrificial  redemption 
it  testified  sacerdotal  fraud.  A  farce  then  the  pillared 
cloud  and  fire.  Apart  from  the  remission  of  sin  the 
priesthood  of  your  fathers  was  an  imposture ;  their 
altar  a  falsehood ;  their  mercy-seat  a  deception,  and 
their  holiest  abomination.  If  not  a  seat  of  Jehovah 
your  tabernacle  was  a  priest-craft,  and  Moses  a  false 
prophet.  The  temple  too  a  stupendous  lie !  All  its 
appointments  ended  in  remission  of-  sin.  Hear  the 
]) raver  of  Solomon,  now  in  the  innocent  wisdom  of  his 
unpolluted  youth,  and  who  brings  down  into  the  tem- 
ple the  cloud  of  the  answering  and  testifying  glory  of 
Jehovah — "Hearken  therefore  unto  the  supplications  of 
thy  servant  and  of  thy  people  Israel,  which  they  shall 
make  toward  this  place ;  hear  Thou  from  Thy  dwelling- 
place,  and  when  Thou  nearest,  Forgive  !" 

This  last  word  is  the  key  to  the  salvation  promised 
and  covenanted  in  Hebrew  Scripture.  It  explains  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  pious  Jews  from  Abraham  to  the 
temple's  destruction.  Forgiveness  from  Jehovah  was 
the  object  of  sacrifice,  the  inspiration  of  worship,  the 
end  of  faith,  the  spring  of  godliness.  Triumphantly  in 
his  temple  the  choir  of  Solomon  chanted  the  song  of  his 
father  David,  and  expressed  the  soul  of  Israel — "As  far 
as  the  cast  is  from  the  west  so  far  hath  He  put  our 
transgressions  from  us — Happy  are  thev  whose  iniqui- 
ties are  covered  and  whose  sins  are  forgiven — Oh  give 
thanks  unto  Jehovah — Praise  Him — Hallelujah!" 

1 06 


Ye  Jews,  for  the  religion  of  your  fathers  look  beyond 
the  learned  volumes  of  your  Rabbis !  Your  divine  ora- 
cles are  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  These  moulded  the 
character  and  shaped  the  history  of  Israel.  Martyrs 
died  for  their  truths.  Kings  and  priests  and  prophets 
were  their  witnesses.  Abraham  was  the  exemplar  of 
the  religion  of  the  Jews.  He  "believed  Jehovah  and  it 
was  accounted  to  him  for  righteousness".  He  built 
altars.  He  offered  sacrifices.  He  obtained  remission. 
Down  to  the  flames  of  the  temple  all  believing  Hebrews 
followed  Abraham.  Let  me  ask  the  Rabbis  of  the 
Jews — Have  ye  this  religion  of  your  fathers?  Are  ye 
priests  ?  Show  your  title  from  Aaron  !  Where  is  your 
temple?  Where  are  your  altars?  Where  are  your 
sacrifices?  Without  atonements  your  three  great  an- 
nual festivals  are  but  memories  and  mockeries.  Mean- 
ingless your  paschal  supper.  Sacrifice  for  remission 
was  the  heart  of  your  religion,  which,  void  of  pulsating 
blood,  is  an  ornamented  corpse.  A  synagogue  without 
an  altar  can  never  replace  a  temple  whose  glory  was 
atonement.  Did  your  fathers  need  a  forgiveness  which 
their  sons  need  not?  Are  you  holier  than  Abraham; 
more  saintly  than  Moses  ;  more  pious  than  David  ?  Are 
Jews  now  so  guiltless  that  before  Jehovah  they  stand 
in  their  own  righteousness,  and  dispense  with  propitia- 
tions of  tabernacle  and  temple?  Or  do  they  in  our 
times  mock  Jehovah,  and  say  that  all  his  sacrificial  ordi- 
nations by  Moses  were  unnecessary  appointments? 
Then  the  billions  of  victims  staining  their  altars  during 
centuries  are  dumb,  dying  witnesses,  not  of  the  mercy, 
but  the  cruelty  of  God.  Ages  of  animal  anguish  would 
make  Judaism  hateful.  If  the  sacrifices  of  your  religion 
did  not  secure  remission  by  covenant  with  Jehovah,  the 
redemption  of  Moses  is  savagery,  and  ye  Jews  have  no 

107 


reason  to  treasure  your  Scripture  as  a  national  oracle. 
But  if  that  redemption  sealing  forgiveness  through 
animal  atonements  was  indispensable  to  your  fathers  it 
is  indispensable  to  you,  and  yet,  while  to  you  indis- 
pensable is  to  you  forever  impossible. 

American  Jews,  compare  yourselves  with  Abraham, 
with  Jacob,  with  Moses,  with  David,  with  Elijah,  and 
your  other  prophets !  Remission  by  sacrifice  was  the 
center  of  their  lives.  Faith  in  the  reconciling  blood 
securing  their  forgiveness  gave  them  peace,  strength, 
victory.  Joy  of  triumph  glowed  in  the  songs  of  David. 
Having  no  priest,  no  altar,  no  sacrifice,  no  temple,  ye 
have  no  remission.  Wanting  this  ye  want  all !  What 
then  is  your  circumcision?  A  painful  reminder  of  an 
annulled  mercy.  Call  your  Rabbis !  Assemble  your 
families !  Whet  your  knives !  Cut  your  children ! 
Their  cries  under  your  vain  mutilations  are  but  piteous 
wailings  for  a  vanished  past.  Read  the  latter  chapters 
of  Exodus!  Ponder  Leviticus  1  Recall  Numbers  and 
Deuteronomy !  They  are  filled  with  directions  for  sac- 
rifice, which  Jehovah  commanded  Moses  from  the  cloud 
above  the  mercy-seat.  All  are  blotted  out  by  the  mod- 
ern Jew,  and  replaced  by  nothing.  He  thus  fossilizes 
the  Scripture  he  esteems  sacred.  Only  left  to  him  the 
creed  of  the  heathen  Gentile  who  has  no  sense  of  guilt 
and  a  blind  hope  in  the  mercy  of  a  God  oblivious  to 
human  transgression.  Hence  the  Jew  is  not  a  Jew  and 
can  not  be  a  Jew.  He  makes  the  religion  of  his  fathers 
a  skeleton.  His  creed  is  a  shell.  His  synagogue  is  a 
shadow.  His  soul  is  a  hunger.  His  life  is  an  exile. 
Among  the  nations  he  wanders  a  hopeless  stranger ; 
circumcised  from  the  fellowship  of  humanity ;  boasting 
a  Law  which  is  his  condemnation,  and  forgetting  a  re- 
demption which  was  salvation.     Do  such  a  people  fulfil 

1 08 


the  promise  and  prophecy  of  their  own  Scripture?  To 
them  were  confined  all  the  miraculous  manifestations  of 
Jehovah  for  thousands  of  years,  confirming  and  bright- 
ening a  covenant  of  eternity,  to  be  signalized  by  a  uni- 
versal kingdom.  Can  pilgrim  Israel,  spoiled  by  the 
centuries,  consecrated  to  gain,  with  a  dead  faith  and  a 
faded  hope,  and  neither  zeal  nor  means  of  converting 
the  nations — so  unjustly  hated  and  widely  persecuted — 
ever  persuade  the  world  to  circumcision,  and  triumph 
in  making  universal  the  religion  of  Moses,  which  was 
adapted  only  to  the  infancy  of  the  Hebrews?  Nothing 
in  the  genius  or  history  of  the  Jews  indicates  the  possi- 
bility of  such  an  achievement.  Then  has  all  the  glory 
of  their  splendid  past  ended  in  the  smoke  of  their  tem- 
ple. Jehovah  promised,  and  has  not  performed.  His 
predestination  is  failure.  His  covenant-bow  is  black- 
ness. His  promised  kingdom  is  a  vagrant,  mercenary, 
despairing  Jewish  exile.  The  sun  of  his  morning  has 
turned  to  cloud  and  filled  his  universe  with  gloom. 

But  ye  Jews,  in  another  essential  ye  differ  from  your 
ancestors.  While  their  religion  was  a  bondage,  it  was 
also  a  joy.  They  exulted  in  hope  of  a  Messiah.  Not 
theirs  the  vain  fancies  of  heathen  peots  glowing  only 
with  the  colors  of  creative  genius.  Hebrew  Scripture 
is  bright,  not  with  mortal  visions,  but  with  divine  prom- 
ises. Through  the  cloud  of  his  shame  and  suffering 
Job  saw  a  living  Redeemer.  Moses  predicted  Shiloh 
and  a  Prophet  greater  than  himself.  David  sings  of  a 
King  who  should  rule  the  world.  Isaiah,  having  pre- 
pared the  way  of  the  Messiah,  cries,  "Behold  your  God 
— He  sitteth  on  the  circles  of  the  earth — He  weigheth 
the  mountains  in  scales — He  leadeth  out  the  stars  by 
number — they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy 

109 


mountain,  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge 
of  Jehovah". 

Ancient  Hebrews  triumphed  in  a  Messiah  who  should 
conquer  earth  by  truth  to  peace,  and  rule  its  king  in 
righteousness.  This  hope  brightened  youth ;  animated 
age;  inspired  the  nation.  Israel  saw  on  every  cloud  a 
bow,  and  knew  behind  the  gloom  a  sun.  Jews  in  defeat 
were  conquerors.  A  Victor-Savior  would  at  the  last 
fulfil  all  the  predictions  of  their  sublime  prophets.  They 
were  assured  of  a  universal  peaceful  glory  undarkened 
by  the  war-clouds  of  our  own  age,  in  which  nations  are 
forced  by  greed  and  passion  to  educate  their  sons  for 
military  slaughter ;  to  expend  on  battleships  the  money 
which  would  endow  colleges  and  hospitals ;  and  to  be- 
hold liberty  itself  dynamited  over  tyranny  to  victory, 
while  a  Peace-Congress  is  guarded  from  assassination. 

Jews,  are  ye  kindled  by  the  Messianic  hope  which 
inspired  your  fathers?  Does  it  now  glow  in  the  writ- 
ings of  your  Rabbis?  Does  it  brighten  your  syna- 
gogues ?  Does  it  live  in  your  families  ?  The  face  of  the 
commercial  Jew  indicates  that  the  Hope  of  Israel  is 
dead  in  his  heart.  Let  him  look  within  and  answer 
whether  it  is  not  a  lonely  void  with  no  expectation  of 
Messiah ! 

Even  in  our  own  free  land,  a  rich  and  respected  citi- 
zen, the  American  Jew  seems  to  dwell  under  the  shadow 
of  a  solitary  and  disappointing  future.  Let  his  jubilee- 
trumpet  sound !  Let  Israel  swarm  to  Palestine !  Let 
the  Jew  buy  and  own  and  crown  Zion  with  his  syna- 
gogue !  His  very  success  would  involve  perplexity  and 
contradiction.  Could  he  rebuild  his  temple?  Having 
no  Aaronical  priests  he  would  be  mocked  by  its  altars. 
Each  sacrifice  would  be  a  satire.  For  the  Jew  there  can 
never    more    be    remission    in    the    covenanted    animal 

no 


hlood.  Our  modern  world  would  ridicule  his  antiquated 
slaughterings  in  Jerusalem.  Ghosts  of  his  old  priests 
and  prophets  and  kings  would  haunt  the  mortified  Jew. 
He  can  no  more  revive  the  religion  of  Abraham  and 
Moses  and  David  than  he  can  convert  the  Dead  Sea 
into  a  fresh  mountain  lake.  Possessing  a  populated  and 
prospering  Palestine,  it  would  be  to  him  a  wilderness 
strewn  with  the  skeletons  of  an  extinct  past. 

Let  us  now  reverse  our  picture ! 

Nineteen  centuries  since  twelve  Jews  began  a  work 
which  seemed  a  chimera.  They  were  plebeian  Hebrews. 
Not  priests  and  kings  and  conquerors  like  the  most 
splendid  writers  of  their  Scripture !  Apostles  were  from 
the  people.  Publicans  and  fishermen  aspired  to  convert 
a  world.  Without  education,  without  ancestry,  without 
oratory,  it  was  deemed  fanaticism.  These  humble  wit- 
nesses were  opposed  by  priests ;  despised  by  sects ; 
scorned  by  philosophers ;  martyred  by  kings.  Defying 
all,  they  delivered  their  message.  In  three  centuries  the 
crown  of  the  world  was  worn  by  their  imperial  de- 
fender. Nor  were  their  disciples  only  peasants  and 
slaves.  Patricians  had  been  won  from  the  golden  pal- 
ace of  the  emperor  on  the  Palatine.  After  the  corrup- 
tions of  ages  a  spark  burst  forth  from  the  apostolic 
doctrine  which  now  illuminates  the  earth.  Twelve 
unlearned  Jews  proclaimed  a  salvation  that  is  moulding 
nations,  inspiring  literature,  stimulating  science,  shap- 
ing history,  and  conquering  humanity  to  the  peace  of 
righteousness. 

Sons  of  American  Israel,  we  invite  you  to  study  a 
creed  which  has  produced  results  so  stupendous. 

Jews  now  take  their-  doctrine,  not  from  their  proph- 
ets, but  from  their  doctors.  Judaism  is  Rabbinism.  It 
is  Hebrew  Scripture  minus  its  sacrificial  reconciliation 

in 


— a  temple  without  an  altar.  Bound  to  it  the  skeleton 
of  a  dead  past !  Rabbinism  resembles  an  air-ship,  over- 
weighted, and  struggling  to  rise  from  night  into  the 
sublime  aerial  regions  of  light  and  freedom. 

While  Moses  proclaimed  laws,  civil  and  ceremonial 
and  moral,  suited  to  a  nation  of  escaped,  idolatrous 
slaves,  he  also  legislated  for  the  political  and  religious 
future  of  a  cultured  and  developed  Israel,  that  he  might 
shape  a  people  worthy  of  their  Messiah,  and  his  right- 
eous rulership  of  the  world.  With  many  temporary 
provisions  his  system  was  rooted  in  an  eternal  need. 
Its  essentials  were  for  humanity  in  all  generations. 
Moses  struck  down  into  man's  deepest  nature  and  satis- 
fied man's  universal  hunger.  Beneath  all  his  multiplied 
and  minute  ordinations  he  revealed  reconciliation.  Yet 
humanity  shrinks  from  its  salvation.  Like  flesh  with  a 
sensitive  wound,  soul  draws  back  from  God.  With  the 
revulsion  of  disease  we  reject  our  spiritual  remedy.  I 
am  now  in  a  region  of  mountain  streams.  They  dash 
in  cascades  over  rocks,  they  flow  in  smooth  currents 
amid  meadows:  each  seeks  its  beneficent  end  in  that 
ocean  whose  clouds  vivify  and  fructify  our  globe.  Let 
the  brook  rebel  against  itself !  Let  it  sigh  to  change  its 
•course!  Let  it  pine,  against  its  nature,  to  climb  the 
mountain,  and  return  to  the  chill  and  night  of  the  cav- 
ern whence  it  escaped !  Such  is  man  in  his  wish  to 
turn  from  God !  To  reverse  the  stream  of  his  desires ; 
to  bring  him  from  guilt  to  pardon  and  from  sin  to 
sanctity ;  to  lead  him  from  the  temporary  to  the  eternal, 
and  to  make  earth  his  discipline  for  Heaven,  is  the 
rational  and  lofty  aim  of  both  Moses  and  Christ.  Ye 
Jews,  Christ  builds  on  Moses.  Christ  fulfils  Moses. 
Christ  amplifies  Moses.  Christ  exalts  Moses.  The 
twilight  of  Moses  in  Christ  shines  noon.     We  are  now 

112 


presenting  our  claim.  Our  proof  we  will  give  here- 
after/ The  doubt  of  the  Law  becomes  assurance  in  the 
Gospel.  Christianity  promises  the  certitude  of  our 
remission  and  regeneration.  It  tells  us  that  we  may  be 
"justified  freely",  that  faith  in  our  Divine  Sacrifice  "is 
accepted  for  righteousness",  that  we  may  be  joyful  in 
reconciliation  and  forgiveness ;  "born  from  above",  the 
"Spirit  witnesses"  that  we  are  the  "sons  of  God",  and 
we  cry.  "Abba  Father",  translated  into  the  "liberty  of 
the  glory"  of  his  children  . 

As  a  Redeemer  our  Jesus  was  most  anxious  to  con- 
firm your  Moses.  A  mere  teacher,  like  Confucius  and 
Boodh  and  Zoroaster  and  Socrates,  and  your  own 
Rabbis,  He  would  have  been  separated  from  the  prom- 
ise and  covenant  and  genius  of  Hebrew  Scripture.  We 
believe  his  character  to  have  been  infinitely  above  the 
possibility  of  Angels.  But  his  example  is  not  salvation. 
His  name,  Jesus,  shews  Him  a  Savior.  He  delivers 
from  that  sin  which  bars  man  from  God.  Our  Christ 
is  a  Lamb ;  not  the  lamb  of  Moses,  but  the  Lamb  of 
God,  sacrificed  for  a  world.  Calvary  harmonizes  Juda- 
ism and  Christianity.  All  Hebrew  offerings  for  cen- 
turies point  forward  to  Calvary.  In  Calvary  their  end 
and  explanation  and  accomplishment  and  perfection. 
Earth  is  our  altar.  The  universe  is  our  temple.  In  the 
Cross  center  life,  death,  time,  eternity.  Our  Israel  is 
Humanity.  Not  an  animal  our  offering!  The  humble 
type  is  exalted  into  the  everlasting  God.  Jesus,  Creator 
of  all,  is  your  Jehovah  incarnate.  He  makes  our  sacri- 
fice infinite  as  Godhead.  Of  prophets  He  is  the  Proph- 
et;  of  priests  He  is  the  Priest;  of  kings,  He  is  the 
King;  the  glory  of  his  universe,  who  even  on  Calvary 
showed  his  sovereignty  over  Earth  and  Heaven  and 
Eternity. 

113 


Our  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  transfigures  your  sacri- 
ficial tabernacle  into  our  atoning  Christ.  In  Him,  your 
whole  Scripture  is  satisfied  and  transcended.  Christ  is 
our  Moses  and  our  Aaron  and  our  Joshua.  Christ  is 
our  priest  and  our  altar.  Christ  is  our  ark  and  our 
mercy-seat.  Christ  is  our  bread' and  our  lamp  and  our 
incense.  Christ  is  our  atonement ;  our  shekinah  within, 
and  cloud  and  fire  without.  Christ  is  the  sum  and  sun 
of  your  promises  and  prophecies  and  covenants. 

We  repeat !  Our  Christianity  is  but  the  expansion 
of  your  Judaism.  Jesus  perfects  Moses.  Jesus  glorifies 
Moses.  As  picture  to  outline ;  as  flower  to  bud ;  as 
ocean  to  stream;  as  sun  to  ray,  so  is  Jesus  to  Moses. 
We  have  no  doctrine  or  experience  which  is  not  illus- 
trated by  your  Testament.  We  study  it  diligently  as 
yourselves.  It  is  sacred  in  our  families ;  reverenced  in 
our  hearts ;  preached  in  our  pulpits.  Our  theological 
schools  teach  the  very  language  of  the  Jewish  Scripture, 
and  our  Bible  Societies  scatter  it  over  the  world.  And 
we  give  the  Old  Testament  a  circulation  not  pos- 
sible to  yourselves.  Travel  over  the  Russian  Empire! 
Throughout  its  vast  extent  the  Greek  Church  prints 
and  reads  and  treasures  your  Hebrew  Bible.  Traverse 
the  countries  whose  millions  are  swayed  by  the  Latin 
Church!  All  accept  your  Hebrew  Bible.  Explore  the 
illimitable  British  dominions !  Everywhere  the  Angli- 
can Church  authorizes  .and  expounds  your  Hebrew 
Bible.  Our  innumerable  Protestant  communions  unite 
in  your  Hebrew  Bible,  which  thus  we  circulate  over 
earth.  Is  this  the  work  of  Jews?  Who  translate  and 
distribute  your  Scripture?  Your  Rabbis?  Left  to 
them,  your  Hebrew  Bible,  as  their  own  ponderous  vol- 
umes, would  be  imprisoned  in  the  dust  of  their  libraries. 
It  is  the  uncircumcised  Gentiles  who  publish  billions  of 

114 


copies  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  disperse  them,  like 
leaves,  for  the  healing  of  humanity.  Christianity  alone 
vivifies  your  Scripture,  and  wings  it  over  our  globe. 
Our  Gospels  and  Epistles  animate  and  circulate  your 
Moses  and  your  Prophets.  Touched  by  Christ,  your 
Hebrew  Bible,  to  bless  earth,  speeds  like  an  angel  over 
the  face  of  Heaven. 

Ye  Jews  of  America,  your  hearts  are  seared  with 
memories  of  centuries  of  persecution.  Europe  has  been 
a  furnace  to  Israel.  Each  home  of  the  circumcised  is 
clouded  by  histories  of  wrong.  Prejudice  and  avarice 
and  bigotry  have  been  remorseless  to  your  ancestors. 
In  our  land  you  have  found  rest  from  the  violence  of 
enemies.  We  have  never  met  a  Jew  with  chain  and 
dungeon  and  fire  and  robbery.  Our  metropolis,  on  its 
superb  avenues,  glitters  with  your  names,  which  are 
signs  of  your  commercial  prosperity.  Your  coffers  are 
full ;  your  homes  are  palatial ;  your  synagogues  rise ; 
your  hospitals  multiply.  Never  in  your  history  have 
you  so  increased  in  wealth.  And  yet  you  are  isolated. 
You  do  not  mingle  in  the  currents  of  our  social  and 
political  life.  Amid  our  teeming  people  Israel  is  a  wil- 
derness Sinai.  Circumcision  walls  from  fellowship. 
Each  synagogue  is  a  congregation  of  strangers.  How- 
ever rich,  cultured,  and  patriotic,  Hebrews  in  America 
are  exiles.  But  if  what  we  have  urged  be  true,  your 
circumcision  is  meaningless  mutilation.  Without  sacri- 
fice and  Messiah,  your  religion  is  a  painful  and  humili- 
ating reminder  of  that  faith  of  your  fathers,  which,  a 
bondage  and  an  infancy,  was  also  an  assurance  and  a 
victory.  Compared  with  them  you  live  in  a  cloud.  Your 
hearts  are  solitary.  Your  lives  are  a  perplexity  and 
estrangement.  Your  synagogues  preach  the  Law  that 
condemns,  but  not  the  redemption  which  saves.    Unper- 

115 


secuted  ye  are  unassimilated.  Political  liberty  is  not 
spiritual  freedom.  Is  your  religion  a  shadow  ;  a  corpse  ; 
an  altar  without  fire;  a  temple  without  Jehovah?  To 
your  own  hearts  I  leave  the  answer. 

In  a  second  article  we  propose  to  give  you  our  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  our  Gospels  transmute  the  rough 
ore  of  Moses  into  the  pure  gold  of  Salvation.  Let  us 
now  presume  that  you  are  convinced !  Your  minds  ac- 
cept our-  proofs,  and  your  hearts  believe  our  Messiah 
as  fulfilling  your  Law  and  your  Prophets.  Converted 
thus,  you  will  exchange  circumcision  for  baptism,  and, 
free  and  forgiven,  you  will  rejoice  in  our  crucified  and 
risen  Savior.  What  a  revolution  in  Israel !  Jews  would 
be  the  leaders  of  the  nations.  Each  would  be  invested 
with  a  halo  transmitted  from  the  glory  of  his  ancestors. 
Israel  would  be  the  light  of  our  world.  Like  Moses,  it 
would  no  longer  see  Canaan  from  a  distance.  It  would 
enter  and  possess  and  be  diademed.  The  land  would  be 
sacred  not  only  with  the  footprints  of  patriarchs,  and 
prophets  and  priests  and  kings,  but  also  with  the 
brighter  memories  of  apostles  and  Messiah.  Nay! 
lifting  the  veil,  which,  like  that  of  their  tabernacle, 
hides  the  holiest,  they  would  behold  the  Heaven  opened 
by  our  Christ  made  visible  to  faith  in  the  familiar  images 
of  their  own  religion.  Our  Apocalypse  symbolizes  the 
glories  of  the  Everlasting  Life  in  the  worship  of  your 
temple.  Moses  and  the  Lamb  are  forever  celebrated 
together  in  celestial  song.  Above  all,  as  a  sun  among 
stars,  shines  Christ,  a  Jew — our  Incarnate  God — our 
crucified  and  risen  and  ascended  Messiah — Creator  of 
worlds — Jehovah  of  the  Old  Covenant  and  Jesus  in  the 
Xew — Redeemer  of  humanity — King  of  his  universe. 


116 


X. 


JEWS  AND  MESSIAH 


Second 

Jews  receive  their  Scripture  as  a  revelation,  recorded 
by  inspired  men,  and  attested  by  miracle  and  prophecy. 
They  who  believe  that  Elijah  brought  fire  and  rain 
from  heaven,  and  a  child  from  death  to  life,  and  was 
himself  charioted  upward  into  glory — they,  receiving 
thus  the  supernatural  in  the  Old  Testament  are  pre- 
pared for  the  supernatural  in  the  New.  Our  faith, 
therefore,  is  a  common  ground  on  which  we  stand 
together  in  testing  the  proofs  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
Messiah. 

In  our  courts  juries  decide  on  facts.  Judges  instruct 
witnesses  to  testify,  not  what  they  think,  but  what  they 
know.  Legal  evidence,  usually,  is  from  observations 
through  the  eye  and  ear.  Men  are  sworn  to  tell  what 
they  saw  and  heard.  All  mere  speculations,  opinions 
and  suppositions  are  inadmissible. 

Certain  cases  are  tried  and  decided  by  the  judge  on 
deposition.  This  is  written  testimony  taken  by  a  special 
officer.  On  this  documentary  evidence,  without  seeing 
a    witness,   the   judge    determines   the   most    important 

117 


cases  involving  the  clearest  and  greatest  interests  of 
life,  property  and  character. 

While  it  is  advantageous  to  see  and  hear  witnesses, 
to  study  face,  tone  and  gesture,  and  know  each  in  his 
presence  and  personality,  yet  lawyers  too  often  mislead 
juries,  and  justice  may  be  better  attained  where  a 
learned  and  incorruptible  judge,  in  his  privacy,  apart 
from  confusion  and  excitement,  sifts  and  weighs  the 
written  words  of  his  witnesses,  and  reaches  his  con- 
clusion in  leisure  and  retirement. 

Histories  are  composed  of  two  species  of  materials. 
First,  we  have  facts  furnished  by  observers.  This 
evidence  is  direct,  specific  and  the  best.  Yet  while 
preferable,  it  is  contracted.  Witnesses  become  dis- 
persed, and  their  testimony  is  transmitted  through 
various  channels,  so  that  historians  are  forced  to  exam- 
the  facts  preserved  in.  the  memories  of  many  persons. 
What  such  evidence  loses  in  directness  it  gains  in  mul- 
tiplicity. Both  methods  are  combined  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. Peter  and  Paul  and  Matthew  and  John  are 
observers,  while  Mark  and  Luke  collected  and  narrated 
the  words  of  many  who  claimed  to  have  seen  and  heard 
the  risen  Master.  Thus  are  united  all  the  means  pos- 
sible to  make  evidence  credible.  We  ask  Jews  to  con- 
sider with  us  our  New  Testament  as  a  single  book  wit- 
nessing the  Resurrection  of  Messiah.  Following  the 
Gospels,  the  Acts  and  Epistles  enable  us  to  sift  each 
writer  in  every  way  possible,  to  discover  and  establish 
truth. 

Our  present  examination  deals  only  with  fact.  In- 
deed, with  one  fact!  And  that  fact  familiar  every 
moment!  Ever  around  us  are  the  infinite  tokens  of 
life!  In  all  men  we  see  its  proofs!  We  know  them  in 
ourselves !      There    is    one    universal    test.      Voluntary 

118 


motion  makes  life  certainty.  Oceans  are  moved  by 
currents  ;  the  atmosphere  by  winds  ;  worlds  by  gravita- 
tion. Around  its  center  sweeps  an  involuntary  universe. 
External  force  may  stir  a  corpse.  Now  let  the  impulse 
come  from  within  !  Its  cause,  the  zvill !  All  is  changed  ! 
Does  a  man  see?  Does  he  hear?  Does  he  smell,  or 
touch,  or  taste  ?  He  talks  ;  he  walks ;  he  eats !  Then 
he  lives. 

As  related  in  the  Gospels,  after  death,  was  Jesus 
visible  and  audible  and  tangible?  This  is  our  sole 
question.  As  creation  revolves  about  a  point,  so  all  the 
evidences  of  the  New  Testament  center  in  the  fact  of 
the  Resurrection  of  Jesus,  which  can  be  proved  only  by 
witnesses. 

Jews  are  familiar  with  a  characteristic  of  their 
Scripture.  Artificial  saints  are  painted  with  the  simper 
of  a  fancied  ideal  sanctity.  Impeccable  anchorites  are 
crowned  with  a  halo  stained  by  no  mortal  spot.  All 
are  suspected  of  manufacture  aiming  to  glorify  a  sect. 
How  different  in  our  Hebrew  sacred  biography!  Pious 
priests  and  patriarchs  and  prophets  are  men  with 
human  infirmity.  Faults  of  writers  of  inspired  Script- 
ure are  neither  concealed  or  extenuated.  They  are 
recorded  and  punished.  When  a  saint  fell  his  repent- 
ance did  not  hide  his  sin.  Adam  in  Eden  was  beguiled ; 
Noah  was  once  intoxicated ;  Abraham  deceived ;  Jacob 
defrauded ;  David  was  tempted  by  lust  to  murder ;  Solo- 
mon was  seduced  by  concubinage  into  idolatry. 

Ye  Jews,  our  New  Testament  follows  your  Old.  Both 
are  stamped  with  the  candor  and  integrity  of  truth. 
Apostles  claimed  to  be  witnesses  for  a  holiness  prepar- 
ing for  Eternal  Life,  through  a  Messiah  they  pro- 
claimed as  the  Incarnate  Jehovah.  What  a  temptation 
to  strengthen  their  testimony  by  concealing  their  faults ! 

119 


Rogues  and  fanatics  make  their  leaders  angels.  How 
different  our  Evangelists !  Our  witnesses  record  their 
childish  ignorance ;  their  pitiable  stupidity ;  their  cow- 
ardly infirmity.  Peter,  prince  of  Apostles,  who  opened 
the  kingdom  of  God  to  Jews ;  Peter,  who  first  converted 
Gentiles ;  Peter,  in  a  moment  of  terror,  denied  and  lied 
and  cursed.  Cowards,  the  remaining  ten,  forsook  and 
fled.  Worldly  wisdom  would  have  veiled  such  blem- 
ishes. Not  so  a  divine  integrity !  What  the  saint  loses 
the  witness  gains.  Recorded  faults  prove  incorruptible 
honesty. 

In  style,  also,  our  New  Testament  resembles  your 
Old.  Both  show  the  same  transparent  simplicity.  Im- 
postors swell  and  exaggerate.  Our  modern  reporters 
are  suspected  because  they  invent  and  color  to  sell  their 
narratives.  When  facts  are  withholden  they  often 
force  disclosures  by  threatening  lies.  Their  style  is 
shaped  by  their  purpose.  Familiar  with  their  arts  we 
distrust  their  statements.  Moses  and  prophets  and 
apostles  are  as  far  removed  from  reporters  as  heaven 
from  earth.  Especially  in  our  New  Testament  we  have 
plain  and  pure  words  which  image  the  souls  of  writers 
intent  only  on  everlasting  truth. 

Dovetailed  testimonies  are  distrusted  by  lawyers. 
Where  many  witnesses  testify  to  the  same  facts  there 
will  be  as  many  differences  as  there  are  personalities. 
What  strikes  one  strongly  will  not  impress  another. 
One  will  omit  what  another  mentions.  One  exagger- 
ates where  another  suppresses.  One  describes  with 
sensibility  and  imagination,  and  another  in  the  cool 
language  of  reason  and  common  sense.  Such  varia- 
tions confirm  testimony.  But  when  witnesses  are  in- 
structed to  falsify,  they  show  a  suspicious,  mechanical 
uniformity.     Personality  is  extinguished.     Art  supple- 

120 


merits  nature.  Sameness  proves  fraud.  In  our  records 
of  the  Resurrection  are  all  those  varieties  incident  to 
discrepancies  of  view  and  character,  with  absolute 
agreement  in  the  sublime  fact  itself.  Ye  Jews,  we  ask 
you  to  study  for  yourselves  the  testimonies  of  our  Gos- 
pels ! 

There  is  one  supreme  test  of  honesty.  Men  are  de- 
ceived and  they  dissimulate.  I  may  suspect  a  sleek  and 
prosperous  and  interested  witness.  Confront  him  with 
death  !  Open  before  him  his  grave  !  Bring  him  under 
the  shadow  of  eternity !  His  integrity  in  his  state- 
ments is  assured.  By  fire  and  sword  and  cross  the 
apostles  were  tried.  They  witnessed,  not  a  doctrine, 
not  a  speculation,  not  a  philosophy,  not  a  system,  but  a 
fact.  Unto  death  they  testified  that  their  Master  was 
seen  and  heard  and  handled  after  his  Resurrection. 

We  have  given  proofs  of  the  honesty  of  our  wit- 
nesses. Is  their  intelligence  doubted?  Surely  not  by 
Jews !  Examine  the  writings  of  Matthew  and  John 
and  Peter  and  Paul !  Test  them  by  your  Prophets ! 
Try  them  by  their  success !  They  have  a  circulation 
surpassing  all  other  books.  Greek  and  Latin  classics 
are  few  in  comparison.  Our  most  popular  novels  are 
not  multiplied  like  our  Gospels  and  Epistles.  To  them 
Moses  and  the  Prophets  owe  their  wide  circulation. 
Could  ignorance  instruct  and  vivify  the  highest  intelli- 
gence, and  produce  results  so  unexampled?  Jews  can 
not  question  the  mental  ability  of  witnesses  whose 
writings  have  made  their  Hebrew  Scriptures  known  to 
humanity. 

Proved  honest  and  capable,  let  us  now  examine  to 
what  our  witnesses  testify. 

Charlatans  no  longer  monopolize  communication 
from  the  other  world.     The  frauds  of  spiritual  telegra- 

121 


phy  have  been  exposed.  Only  the  most  credulous 
weaklings  have  their  pockets  emptied  by  tricks  in  dim 
lights,  in  which  appear  majestic  floating  figures,  white 
spectre-fingers,  amid  weird,  unearthly  music,  with  letters 
from  the  ghostly  dead.  Impostors  are  replaced  by  Sci- 
entists. A  famous  professor  from  an  eminent  univer- 
sity leads  the  investigations.  And  he  is  taken  soberly 
in  his  inductive  research  by  his  learned  associates !  His 
institution  is  advertised  by  his  pursuits.  From  every 
part  of  the  world  he  examines  reported  facts,  compares 
and  analyzes,  and  seeks  to  sift  truth  from  falsehood.  We 
wish  he  would  publish  those  letters.  Bacon  may  well 
be  startled  if  conscious  that  his  principles  of  induction 
are  so  applied.  Spirits !  They  are  invisible,  intangible, 
inaudible,  without  material  organism.  Writing  pre- 
sumes in  spirits  muscles.  Yet  spirits  have  left  behind 
their  muscles  in  their  bodies.  Destitute  of  the  muscles 
essential  to  penmanship,  Science  must  conclude  that 
spirits  can  not  write ;  much  less  rap  and  walk  and  talk 
and  sing.  Always  she  sees  physical  effects  produced 
only  by  material  organs.  She  unsettles  faith  in  her 
own  principles,  methods  and  conclusions  when  she 
pushes  investigation  into  a  realm  incapable  of  inductive 
proof.  Judging  spirit-communication  on  its  own  merit, 
it  has  added  nothing  valuable  to  our  human  knowledge. 
Vapid  letters,  filled  with  mistakes  and  trifles,  dimin- 
ish veneration  for  eternity,  and  cause  us  to  shrink  from 
a  state  beneath  our  present  condition,  and  marked  by 
childishness,  senility  and  illiteracy. 

Our  present  inquiry  is  not  with  phantoms.  We  are 
within  the  realm  of  our  senses.  Our  proofs  relate  to 
the  body.  Like  Botany,  like  .Geology,  like  Chemistry, 
like  Astronomy,  we  build  on  facts  attested  by  eye  and 
ear  and  finger.     We  are  within  the  realm  of  Physical, 

122 


Inductive  Science.  I  know  that  my  friend  lives.  How? 
Only  as  his  soul  is  evinced  in  the  actions  of  his  body 
witnessed  by  the  organs  of  my  body.  His  life  is  known 
to  me  by  his  fleshly  movements.  He  walks  ;  he  talks ;  he 
eats !  I  see  these  acts  and  am  sure  he  lives.  Millions 
around  me  are  active  with  intelligence.  Each  directs 
his  body  by  his  will.  To  doubt  he  lives  proves  me  a 
lunatic.  A  crook  of  a  finger ;  a  wink  of  an  eye ;  a  word 
of  a  lip ;  any  movement  of  hand  or  foot  or  head,  by  the 
volition  of  the  man,  is  proof  indubitable  that  he  is  not 
a  corpse. 

Jesus  is  not  present  as  a  spirit.  This  would  have 
taken  Him  out  of  the  realm  of  the  senses,  which  only 
Physical  Inductive  Science  explores.  In  a  sphere  of 
disembodied  souls  evidence  is  unsubstantial  and  un- 
settling as  the  invisible  shadows  of  the  departed,  or  as 
the  perplexing  researches  of  our  new  philosophers. 
Some  of  the  affrighted  witnesses  of  Jesus  mistook  him 
for  a  spirit.  He  was  prompt  to  correct  and  rebuke 
their  error,  and  save  us  from  the  puerile  experiments 
which  have  made  Science  ridiculous.  He  calms  their 
fears.  He  assures  their  faith.  He  challenges  their 
examination.  Prove  Me !  Handle  Me !  Behold  my 
side,  my  hands,  my  feet !  Touch  my  wounds !  I  who 
died  live  again  in  my  flesh  !  Have  ye  food  ?  Give  it 
Me !  I  will  eat  and  prove  to  your  senses,  by  that  most 
animalistic  act,  that  this  is  my  body,  crucified  and  risen, 
and  now  fed  and  nourished  according  to  the  laws  which 
govern  all  the  animated  millions  of  our  humanity. 

Ye  Jews,  examine  our  witnesses !  Often  the  truths 
they  teach  are  as  far  above  our  comprehension  as  the 
Infinite  God  is  above  finite  man.  Not  so  the  evidence 
they  present !  This  is  intelligible  to  the  plainest  com- 
mon  sense.     Epistles  confirm  Gospels.     Letters  unveil 

123 


hearts  and  reveal  character,  and  take  us  into  the  inmost 
personalities  of  their  writers.  I  never  knew  Cicero 
until  I  read  his  letters  to  Atticus.  I  was  never  sure  of 
Cromwell  until  I  read  his  letters  to  his  family.  I  never 
.  doubted  Washington,  but  his  letters  to  his  friends  in- 
creased my  faith  and  veneration.  Peter  and  Paul  and 
James  and  John  have  bequeathed  to  us  immortal  photo- 
graphs. Unconscious  artists,  they  have  painted  their 
own  faithful  portraits,  which  show  their  souls  transpar- 
ent in  the  light  of  everlasting  truth.  In  minute  lines 
and  colors  we  see  the  men,  and  our  Reason  accredits 
their  testimony  to  the  plain  fact  of  the  bodily  Resurrec- 
tion of  their  Master. 

Before  we  reach  the  main  purpose  of  our  chapter  we 
invite  Jews  to  compare  the  Life  of  our  Messiah  with 
the  prophetic  pictures  of  their  Messiah.  Your  Messiah 
was  to  be  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Our  Messiah  is  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah.  Your  Messiah  was  to  be  a  Son  of 
David.  Our  Messiah  is  a  Son  of  David.  Your  Mes- 
siah was  to  be  born  of  a  virgin  in  Bethlehem.  Our 
Messiah  was  born  of  a  virgin  in  Bethlehem.  Your 
Messiah  was  to  enter  Jerusalem  triumphantly  on  an  ass. 
Our  Messiah  entered  Jerusalem  triumphantly  on  an 
ass.  Your  Messiah  was  to  appear  suddenly  in  his  tem- 
ple. Our  Messiah  appeared  suddenly  in  his  temple. 
Your  Messiah  was  to  be  offered  as  an  atonement  for 
sin.  Our  Messiah  was  offered  as  an  atonement  for  sin. 
Your  Messiah  was  to  be  pierced;  to  cry.  "My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?";  to  have  lots  cast 
for  his  vesture  and  his  garments  parted ;  and  to  be 
mocked  in  the  words,  "He  trusted  in  the  Lord  to  de- 
liver Him  ;  let  Him  deliver  Him !"  All  this  our  Messiah 
fulfilled  to  the  letter.  Your  Messiah  was  to  be  a 
Prophet  like  Moses.     Our  Messiah  was  a  Prophet  like 

124 


Moses.  Your  Messiah  was  to  be  a  Priest  forever  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek.  Our  Messiah  is  a  Priest 
forever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  Your  Messiah 
was  to  be  a  King  ruling  the  world  from  Jerusalem. 
Our  Messiah,  crucified  and  glorified,  we  believe  to  be 
King  reigning  in  the  New  Jerusalem  over  his  universe. 
Hence  we  trust  and  obey  and  worship  your  Messiah 
predicted  as  our  Messiah  realized. 

Jesus  was  an  unlettered  Jew.  He  was  the  reputed 
son  of  a  village  mechanic.  Provincial  in  birth,  educa- 
tion and  association,  He  had  none  of  the  advantages 
essential  to  literary  success.  Yet  in  his  style  is  no  trace 
of  his  formative  life.  An  exquisite  refinement  breathes 
through  all  his  words.  Gamaliel  never  attained  the 
excellence  of  Jesus.  Nazareth  outshone  Jerusalem. 
What  literature  equals  the  sermons  and  parables  of  our 
Master  ?  What  originality  !  What  simplicity  !  What 
propriety !  What  dignity !  Illustration  points  argu- 
ment. All  nature  supplies  figures.  Art  exceeded,  is 
forgotten.  Speakers  and  actors  are  real  men.  Dia- 
logue vivifies  doctrine.  Eternal  Wisdom  springs  from 
casual  circumstance.  This  village  Jew  speaks  to  hu- 
manity, which  could  have  no  Messiah  with  superior 
literary  merit. 

Jesus  was  a  typical  Hebrew.  Rabbinism  dominated 
his  age.  Scribes  and  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  despised 
the  people.  A  touch  of  the  vulgar  herd  was  pollution. 
Gentiles  were  loathsome  idolaters.  Scorn  and  hatred 
isolated  circumcised  Israel.  Jesus  soared  above  these 
bigotries  of  his  age  and  race.  He  announced  a  religion 
suitable  for  men  and  angels.  The  love  of  God  and 
neighbor  is  law  for  a  universe. 

Did  Jesus  revolutionize  Moses  ?  Yes !  But  super- 
seding He  fulfilled.     Social  and  political  and  ceremonial 

125 


were  at  once  abolished,  adapted,  expanded  and  glorified. 
Eternal  truth  in  Law  and  Prophet  was  made  enduring 
as  Heaven.  In  Jesus  radicalism  and  conservatism  are 
realized  and  idealized.  He  destroys  to  build.  He  con- 
verts carnal  into  spiritual ;  particular  into  universal ; 
temporal  into  eternal.  A  dead  past  He  vivifies  into  an 
everlasting  glory. 

Trace  to  its  causes  the  success  of  sages  and  heroes ! 
Each  is  a  ^transcendant  type  of  the  genius  of  his  nation. 
Concentrated  in  one  is  a  magnified  and  intensified  all. 
A  spirit  idolized  by  a  kindred  people  leads  triumphantly 
armies  and  senates.  Yet  the  most  brilliant  success 
evolved  from  racial  aptitudes  and  necessities  is  circum- 
scribed and  narrowing.  Hence  the  imperfection  of  a 
Boodha,  a  Confucius,  a  Socrates,  a  Caesar,  a  Moham- 
med, a  Napoleon.  Jesus  differs  from  the  crowned  con- 
queror of  adoring  ages  and  nations.  He  impersonates 
Humanity ! 

So  far  we  have  described  mere  secondary  character- 
istics.    We  now  approach  that  which  is  supreme. 

Jews,  we  admit  that  we  believe  that  Jesus  is  both 
Messiah  and  God.  He  prophesied  as  God.  He  wrought 
miracles  as  God."  He  forgave  sin  as  God.  He  claimed 
to  raise  and  judge  the  dead  as  God.  He  permitted 
Himself  to  be  called  God.  If  not  God  He  was  a  blas- 
phemer. About  his  cross  Earth  and  Heaven  were  not 
witnesses  to  his  sovereignty.  The  Gospel  of  his  death 
is  a  lie.  Priests,  Scribes,  Pharisees,  rabble,  Herod, 
Pilate,  are  justified.  Jesus  not  God  deserved  the  thorn- 
crown,  the  mock  robe,  the  face-blow ;  in  his  death- 
agony  the  taunt  upon  his  cross.  When  disciples  for- 
sook, how  could  enemies  believe?  All  was  against  the 
dying  man,  and  the  mad  multitude  was  insensible  to  a 

126 


shaking  earth  and  a  darkened  heaven.  The  only  proof 
that  Jesus  was  God-Messiah  is  his  Resurrection. 

A  man  who  thinks  He  is  God  and  is  not  God,  is  in- 
sane. A  man  who  says  He  is  God  and  knows  He  is 
not  God,  is  a  villain.  What  Jesus  was  we  determine 
from  his  acts  and  words. 

Search  the  records  of  asylums !  Gather  the  sayings 
of  their  inmates !  Compose  thus  a  literature  of  lunacy ! 
Compare  it  with  the  Gospels !  Have  your  maniacs 
moulded  the  opinions  of  nations ;  commanded  the  study 
of  ages,  and  converted  Augustines  and  Luthers  and 
Bacons  and  Newtons  and  Chathams  and  Washingtons 
and  Websters  ?  Impossible !  All  this  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  sayings  of  Jesus  because  they  bear  the 
stamp  of  uniform,  conservative  and  consummate  wis- 
dom. 

Or.  would  an  impostor  preach  repentance,  denounce 
sin,  urge  holiness,  offer  eternal  life,  and  proclaim  judg- 
ment with  everlasting  awards  for  good  and  evil  ?  No ! 
Nor  would  he  commission  brother-villains  to  live  and 
work  and  die  in  battle  to  extirpate  wrong  and  promote 
sanctity. 

And  now,  ye  Jews,  I  can  but  testify  these  convictions 
of  my  Reason,  carried  by  proof  to  certitude,  which  have 
created  in  me  that  assurance  of  the  character  of  Jesus, 
on  which  ultimately,  is  grounded  our  faith  in  the  Res- 
urrection He  promised  and  predicted.  I  study  men  in 
Scripture  and  in  History.  On  each  I  discover  some 
mortal  blot.  Jesus  alone  defies  my  scrutiny.  He  stands 
before  my  criticisms  perfect  in  holiness.  Nor  can  I 
conceive  that  a  writer  not  perfect  could  create  a  char- 
acter that  is  perfect.  Mortal  genius  could  no  more  in- 
vent Jesus  than  it  could  make  a  rose,  a  man,  a  star,  a 
sun,  a  universe.     His  picture  in  the  Gospels  could  not 

127 


be  improved  by  the  touch  of  the  brightest  seraph  who 
leads  the  literature  of  Heaven.  And  the  more  familiar 
I  am  with  Jesus  the  stronger  that  conviction  of  my 
Reason  on  which  I  found  my  Faith.  In  Him  alone  of 
men  I  find  self  lost  in  benevolence.  Always  He  moves 
in  an  atmosphere  of  Heaven.  No  stain  ever  in  the  halo 
which  crowns  his  head !  In  life,  in  death,  in  resurrec- 
tion, in  ascension,  the  majesty  of  everlasting  truth  and 
love !  And  in  myself  the  spring  of  all  that  is  good ! 
Wherever  I  search  I  find  Jesus  lives  only  in  pious 
hearts.  He  is  the  fount  of  noblest  affections.  He  is 
the  object  of  purest  hopes.  He  is  the  model  of  most 
perfect  virtue.  The  life  of  the  man  never  falls  below 
the  glory  of  the  God.  His  brief  biography  on  Earth 
may  well  be  the  Everlasting  Gospel  of  Heaven.  Nor 
will  his  picture,  painted  by  unlettered  publicans  and 
fishermen,  be  dimmed  when  exalted  into  the  effulgence 
of  Godhead.  Hence  Reason  is  overwhelmed  by  the 
proofs  into  the  assurance  that  Jesus,  by  his  Resurrec- 
tion, fulfilled  his  prophecy  of  his  Resurrection. 

Ye  Jews,  with  you  we  receive  Moses.  We  stand  with 
your  Rabbis.  Hebrew  Scripture  we  believe  to  be  a 
revelation  from  God  recorded  by  inspired  men.  Hyper- 
critics,  branding  Bible  with  falsehood,  we  esteem  infidel- 
enemies.  Yet  we  have  for  our  faith  an  authority 
stronger  than  your  own.  Jesus  affirmed  Moses.  Jesus 
fulfilled  Moses.  Jesus  quoted  Moses.  Jesus  refused 
all  who  rejected  Moses.  Jesus  on  Moses  placed  the  seal 
of  his  Resurrection.  Do  you  shrink  when  you  read  that 
Moses  killed  in  Egypt,  slew  in  the  wilderness,  com- 
manded extermination  in  Canaan,  and  that  Elijah  with 
sword-slaughter  extirpated  Baal-Priests?  Unauthor- 
ized by  Jehovah  both  would  be  murderers.     Our  Jesus 

128 


vindicates  your  Moses  and  Elijah  by  selecting  them  to 
share  the  glory  of  his  Transfiguration. 

Pagans  hide  sin  in  ceremonial.  Their  gods  love 
splendid  gifts  and  ostentatious  displays.  If  temples  are 
enriched  heathen  priests  permit  transgressions.  Cere- 
monial is  above  moral.  Not  so  Moses  and  the  Prophets  ! 
Jehovah  preferred  righteousness  to  sacrifice.  Apart 
from  uprightness  the  altar  was  abomination.  Not  for 
Himself  did  the  Creator  build  and  appoint  his  temple. 
Could  He  who  made  earth  and  spread  heaven  have 
satisfaction  in  any  mortal  structure?  He  who  formed 
a  sun  could  have  no  delight  in  a  candle.  He  who  made 
Cherubim  had  no  pleasure  in  the  pain  and  gore  of 
beasts.  Ordinations  of  Moses  were  to  teach  and 
reconcile  man,  and  not  to  please  the  Unchangeable 
and  Everlasting  God.  Behind  all  and  above  all  and  in 
all  was  the  demand  for  a  right  life.  Obedience  was 
better  than  sacrifice.  Law  was  discipline  for  virtue. 
Christ  follows  Moses.  His  trumpet-call  was  repent- 
ance ;  his  command  love ;  and  crown  of  all,  everlasting 
holiness. 

Moses  and  your  Prophets  show  us,  that  we,  in  our- 
selves, are  insufficient  for  virtue.  And  our  Gospel 
teaches  that,  without  God,  man  is  a  spiritual  imbecile, 
and  an  eternal  wreck.  Your  Scripture  presumes  and 
promises  the  Holy  Spirit.  His  glorious  power  in  the 
conversion  of  humanity,  as  the  consummation  of  the 
election  and  discipline  and  history  of  Israel  is  assured 
by  Jesus.  In  the  Holy  Spirit  Old  Testament  and  New 
are  harmonized.  Promise  in  the  Prophets  is  fulfilment 
through  the  Gospels.  All  teach  that  intellectual  en- 
lightenment is  not  salvation.  Head  may  be  convinced 
when  heart  is  vile,  and  will  rebellious.  Only  Almighty 
Breath  can  turn  humanity  from  sin  to  holiness.    Eternal 

129 


Life  through  Christ,  we  supplicate  for  Israel.  With 
Paul,  we  would  aspire  to  be  accursed  after  the  manner 
of  Jesus,  could  the  ignominy  of  a  cross  make  Jew  and 
Gentile  one  in  the  Lord.  We  will  henceforth  try  to 
pray  and  work  for  the  salvation  of  that  Hebrew  People 
who  are  authors  of  Scripture ;  prophets  for  humanity ; 
apostles  of  the  Messiah-God  we  believe  to  be  the  Light 
of  Earth  and  the  Glorv  of  Heaven. 


130 


XL 


REMISSION 


N  Often  a  young  collegian  esteems  it  virtue  to  screen 
by  falsehood  a  classmate  from  punishment.  Measured 
by  the  moral  standard  he  adopts  he  is  justified  and  ap- 
plauded. Sparta  rewarded  successful  theft  as  discipline 
for  military  duty.  Because  plausible  in  falsehood  a 
Turk  recommends  his  son  for  employment.  Tynans 
considered  it  supreme  piety  to  sacrifice  their  children 
to  their  gods.  Budhists  seek  Nirvana  by  submissive 
suffering,  and  Brahminists  merit  by  agonizing  torture. 
In  veneration  for  parents  the  agnostic  Confucius  cen- 
tered religion.  Imperial  Rome  killed  Christian  martyrs 
as  rebels  against  her  sovereignty.  Mohammed  slew  or 
enslaved  all  who  did  not  receive  him  as  the  prophet  of 
God.  The  Medieval  Church  deemed  it  duty  to  burn, 
behead  and  strangle  heretics  lest  they  should  poison 
souls,  and  human  agony  was  made  a  festival  for  kings, 
priests  and  people.  In  defence  of  the  faith  pious  popes 
commissioned  armies  to  desolate  and  fanatics  to  assas- 
sinate. Duelling  at  this  hour  has  imperial  sanction 
which  thus  legalizes  murder.  Not  a  crime  condemned 
by  the  Decalogue  which  has  not  been  practiced  as  a 
virtue!    The  majority  of  mankind  call  idolatry  religion. 

131 


Our  world  is  a  moral  chaos.  Humanity  in  itself  has 
never  furnished  a  standard  of  right.  Its  greatest  teach- 
ers have  been  conflicting  and  confusing  guides.  While 
all  times  and  regions  show  lingering  traces  of  law  and 
conscience,  yet  such  is  the  force  of  appetite,  passion  and 
interest  that  men  will  satisfy  their  lusts  and  fill  their 
pockets  regardless  of  right;  until  the  moral  sense  has 
been  well  compared  to  a  mirror  shattered  into  a  thou- 
sand fragments  each  giving  back  an  imperfect  light  and 
all  together  making  an  illusive  glitter.  For  this  reason 
we  should  examine  the  authorative  standard  of  the  in- 
spired Scriptures.  Let  us  then  look  beyond  the  code  of 
cur  college,  our  club,  our  profession,  our  neighborhood, 
our  country,  our  race,  and  inquire  what  is  duty  by  the 
Revelation  of  the  Almighty. 

We  propose  to  measure  humanity,  its  condition,  and 
destiny,  not  by  the  standard  of  man,  but  by  the  Word 
of  God. 

(i)  We  are  placed  by  our  Bibles  in  the  blaze  of  the 
infinite  and  insufferable  holiness  of  the  Omnipresent, 
Omniscient  and  Omnipotent,  who  is  the  Personal  Sov- 
ereign of  all. 

(2)  We  are  commanded  by  our  Creator  to  a  true, 
perpetual,  faithful,  loyal  and  loving  obedience  to  Him 
as  the  supreme  end  of  our  existence. 

(3)  We  are  confronted  in  Jesus  with  his  incarnated 
holiness  as  Jehovah,  accommodated  to  our  mortal 
vision,  while  preserving  its  immaculate  purity. 

(4)  We  are  challenged  by  the  Holy  Ghost  within  us, 
drawing  us  ever  from  sin  to  holiness. 

(5)  We  have  revealed  to  us  a  Judgment  where  our 
lives  will  be  scrutinized  by  Omniscient  Justice,  with 
awards  of  eternal  life  and  death. 

(6)  We   are   informed   that    an    existence    in    time 

132 


should  be  an  education  for  eternity  with  saints  and 
angels,  in  the  presence  and  image  of  our  Divine 
Savior,  and  where  sin  is  impossible  and  holiness  uni- 
versal. 

With  such  demands  we  may  well  inquire  how  Scrip- 
ture represents  our  humanity  in  its  effort  to  meet  its 
obligations. 

Our  witness  will  be  Paul !  Other  Apostles  were 
called  by  Christ  on  earth.  He  whom  we  now  consult 
was  summoned  by  Jesus  from  His  glory.  The  dazzle 
of  a  noon  sun  did  not  equal  the  splendor  of  the  spiritual 
illumination.  Our  Savior  on  no  vain  errand  descended 
from  His  throne  to  His  footstool.  In  His  own  voice, 
iii  His  own  words,  in  His  own  authority,  He  commis- 
sioned Paul  to  preach — "Remission".  In  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  he  fulfilled  his  vocation  by  painting  human- 
ity. Terrific  his  colors !  Men,  he  styles  "fools" ; 
"thankless" ;  "vain  in  their  reasonings" ;  by  image- 
worship  corrupters  of  the  glory  of  God ;  abandoned 
to  "vile  affections"  ;  transgressors  in  every  hideous  and 
loathsome  form  of  possible  wickedness. 

Fettered  in  the  golden  palace  of  Nero,  Paul  after- 
wards knew  that  every  sin  so  vividly  depicted  in  his 
Epistle  was  committed  within  the  walls  of  his  own  im- 
perial prison.  The  lives  of  the  tyrant  and  his  satellites 
are  more  shocking  than  pagan  vice  and  crime  in  the 
words  of  inspired  genius.  Historic  fact  is  darker  than 
Bible  picture. 

And  fearful  the  doom  of  the  nations  who  colored  the 
portrait !  Babylon,  Nineveh,  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome ! 
What  energies  !  What  battles  !  What  conquests  !  What 
genius  in  art  and  literature  and  philosophy !  What 
tombs  and  temples  and  obelisks  and  libraries  and  pyra- 
mids !     These  nations,  to  feed  themselves,  subdued  the 

133 


world.  Mankind  was  the  slave  of  their  lusts.  They 
gorged  themselves  with  the  fruits  of  their  own  ungodli- 
ness. All  perished  in  their  mad,  suicidal  iniquities. 
Desolate  ruins  are  witnesses  of  their  corrupting  idol- 
atries. Blacker  and  bloodier  the  story  of  each  than  the 
lines  of  Paul. 

And  even  more  impressive  and  instructive  than  this 
picture  of  our  race  is  his  portrait  of  himself  in  battle 
with  hims'elf.  "To  will  is  present  with  me,  but  to  per- 
form that  which  is  good  I  find  not.  For  the  good  that 
I  would  I  do  not,  but  the  evil  that  I  would  not,  that  I 
do."  Our  soul-master  is  the  Will.  By  it  are  dominated 
our  thoughts,  our  feelings,  our  volitions.  Its  ultimate 
decision  determines  right  and  wrong.  One  resolve  may 
stamp  character  forever.  Eternal  destinies  are  sus- 
pended on  volition.  Paul  shows  that  the  will  is  bound 
to  evil,  and,  in  itself,  incapable  of  good.  Man  is  fet- 
tered to  self  and  time.  He  is  powerless  to  actualize  his 
own  sense  and  wish  of  right.  He  is  painted  by  Paul  as 
a  mere  paralytic.  Nay !  the  Apostle  compares  him  to  a 
criminal  fettered  to  a  putrescent  corpse,  and  in  peril 
from  its  contaminating  poison ! 

In  its  natural  acts  our  will  is  free.  As  I  choose,  I 
rise,  I  walk,  I  sit,  I  eat,  I  talk,  and  use  my  bodily  and 
mental  organs  and  faculties.  But  confront  me  with 
the  holiness  of  God  and  Heaven,  and  in  such  a  sun- 
blaze  I  am  a  blind  paralytic.  While  free  in  my  ordi- 
nary acts,  I  am  enslaved  to  my  carnal  self.  Only  a 
being  wholly  good  is  wholly  free,  while  every  being 
wholly  bad,  is  wholly  bound.  Between  these  moral  ex- 
tremes moral  freedom  is  proportionate  to  moral  con- 
dition. 

To  translate  a  soul  from  its  spiritual  slavery  to  its 
Christian  liberty  is  the  problem  of  salvation. 

134 


In  revealing-  the  mystery  Paul  takes  us  back  to  the 
predestination  of  eternity.  Our  universe  was  created 
for  a  purpose  sublimer  than  itself.  Scripture  peoples 
it  with  angelic  hosts.  Holy  and  happy  immortals  adore 
their  Maker  in  eternal  song.  Jehovah  they  glorify  in 
grateful  and  glowing  love.  But  beyond  jubilations  of 
Creation  are  anthems  of  Redemption.  In  ecstacies  of 
praise,  harp  and  voice  in  Heaven  celebrate  Incarnate 
Godhead.  All  the  past  of  the  universe  converges  to  the 
cross,  and  all  its  future  ladiates  from  the  cross  which 
is  the  center  of  time  and  eternity,  and  the  new  moral 
measure  of  all  moral  intelligence. 

After  the  Fall  a  promise  and  a  prophecy  came  to 
Adam,  of  defeat  and  triumph.  Cain  offered  his  fruits, 
expressing  gratitude,  not  guilt.  They  were  rejected. 
The  mad  apostate  rushed  on  to  murder.  Sprinkled 
with  sacrificial  blood,  the  altar  of  Abel  witnessed  and 
confessed  the  sin  of  man  and  the  sovereignty  of  God. 
By  voice  or  flame  his  offering  was  approved,  with  a 
divine  testimony  of  his  remission.  Strong  in  faith  to 
build  his  ark,  having  floated  over  the  corpses  of  a  per- 
ished world,  Noah  in  blood  cancels  guilt  and  voices 
thanksgiving;  and  in  His  cloud  the  bow  of  Jehovah 
announces  acceptance  and  seals  covenant.  Everywhere 
over  Palestine,  as  they  wandered  with  their  flocks  and 
herds  and  tents,  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  ap- 
proached for  mercy  by  sacrifice  the  Awful  Presence. 
The  Passover  of  Moses  was  a  witness  in  blood.  On 
the  Mount  of  the  Law  blood  sealed  the  Covenant  of 
Jehovah  with  His  people,  before  His  servant  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  crowning  glory.  On  the  entrance-altar 
in  the  Court ;  on  the  mercy-seat  of  the  Holy  of  Holies ; 
in  morning  and  evening  offerings ;  in  the  annual  festi- 
vals ;  for  personal  remission  and  for  national  forgive- 

135 


ness — there  was  always  the  blood  of  atoning  sacrifice. 
Down  through  the  centuries  of  the  Tabernacle,  Israel 
approached  Jehovah  by  blood.  Solomon  by  rivers  of 
blood  dedicated  his  Temple.  On  the  Cross  the  Divine 
Messiah  in  his  human. blood  finished  all  and  fulfilled 
the  types  and  promises  and  prophecies  of  the  ages  from 
Adam  to  Himself. 

Sacrifice  ordained  by  the  Law  was  completed  under 
the  Gospel.  Atonements  of  Moses  were  terminated 
and  glorified  in  the  Cross  of  Christ.  Old  Testament 
and  New  were  cemented  into  one  system  by  the  blood 
of  Incarnate  Godhead.  Nor  was  animal  sacrifice  a 
caprice  or  a  cruelty.  It  preached  for  ages  to  the  eye. 
Each  altar  was  a  visible  Gospel  of  the  Cross.  A  dying 
lamb  prefigured  an  atoning  Christ.  All  past  genera- 
tions were  thus  educated  for  the  infinite  sacrifice  of 
Calvary. 

While  Prophets  and  Apostles  witness  remission 
through  atonement,  we  behold  set  forth  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  preeminently  the  object  of  the  faith, 
which  is  salvation.  Christ  there  is  the  visible  image 
and  glory  of  His  Father :  the  Maker  of  Worlds ;  the 
Lord  of  worshipping  angels ;  called  God.  He  spread 
heaven  and  founded  earth,  and  is  the  changeless  Ever- 
lasting. Also  He  is  our  Brother ;  our  bone ;  our  flesh  ; 
our  blood ;  tempted  in  life  and  agonized  in  death ;  offer- 
ing Himself  as  Jehovah  for  the  sins  of  humanity,  and 
rising  from  the  grave  to  glory  to  be  High-Priest  for 
our  world  and  King  of  His  universe.  In  His  deepest 
humiliation  as  man  He  shows  Himself  God.  On  His 
cross  He  commanded  testimonies  from  earth  and 
heaven,  which  witnessed  together  His  sovereignty  as 
their  Creator. 

Remission  presumes  miracle.    Remission  and  miracle 

136 


are  bound  together  in  Scripture.  Remission  without 
miracle  would  have  no  authority.  When  Moses  offers 
remission  to  Israel  he  must  attest  his  commission  by 
miracle  from  Jehovah.  The  cloud  of  the  Divine  Glory, 
covering  the  Tabernacle  and  filling  the  Temple,  was  no 
vain  display  of  splendor  to  dazzle  and  delight  an 
amazed  multitude.  It  was  the  visible  attestation  of  the 
Sovereign  Creator  of  the  universe,  that  by  faith  in 
ordained  sacrifice  sin  was  forgiven  to  penitent  and  be- 
lieving Israel.  And  His  Resurrection  impressed  with 
the  majesty  of  His  Godhead  the  words  of  our  Savior, 
when  "He  opened  their  understanding  that  they  might 
understand  the  Scripture,  and  said  unto  them.  Thus  it 
is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer  and  to 
rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and  that  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  His  name 
among  all  the  nations  beginning  at  Jerusalem.  And  ye 
are  witnesses  of  these  things.  And  behold,  I  send  the 
promise  of  my  Father  upon  you  ;  but  tarry  ye  in  Jeru- 
salem until  ye  be  endued  with  power  from  on  High". 
His  command  was  sealed  by  his  crowning  miracle. 
Jesus  leads  the  way  up  Olivet  to  Bethany.  Gazing  on 
His  face  and  form  stand  around  Him  His  expectant 
Disciples.  With  outstretched  hands  blessing  the  earth 
which  pierced  them,  He  ascends  towards  Heaven,  which 
He  enters  with  the  wounded  body  of  His  humiliation 
transfigured  into  an  everlasting  glory  suitable  to  the 
Redeemer  of  a  race  and  the  Sovereign  of  Creation. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  worship  in  all  the  forms 
of  religion  in  our  Republic.  I  have  also  mingled  with 
the  professors  and  masters  of  classic  Oxford,  and  the 
congregations  of  cultured  Cambridge.  With  the  great 
historic  cathedrals  of  London  and  Paris  I  am  familiar. 
The  splendid   Santa    Maria    Maggiore ;    the    episcopal 

137 


Lateran ;  the  sublime  St.  Peter's — I  have  visited  all : 
Greek  Church,  Latin  Church,  Anglican  Church,  Pro- 
testant Church  !  Amid  the  creeds  and  nations  and  races 
I  have  been  an  observer.  In  all  a  visible  want  of  joy ! 
Solemnity,  not  joy,  in  the  faces  of  all.  Yet  Old  Testa- 
ment prophets  gloried  in  joy.  After  wails  of  humil- 
iation the  Psalmist  exults  in  joy.  Christ  promised  joy. 
Incarnation  and  Resurrection  and  Ascension  should 
thrill  with  joy.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  Comforter  with 
joy.  A  Gospel  of  Eternal  Life  is  a  message  of  joy. 
Yet  the  religion  of  Christendom  is  not  a  joy.  Instead 
of  the  bloom  of  the  garden  we  have  the  dreariness  of 
the  wilderness.  Often  our  saintliest  piety  is  a  bondage 
rather  than  a  liberty.  Everywhere  battle  without  vic- 
tory ! 

We  may  be  permitted  to  inquire  the  reason. 

Often  in  nature,  in  the  grandeur  of  the  end  we  over- 
look the  insignificance  of  the  means.  Creation  revolves 
about  a  point-center.  So  the  proof  of  Christianity  is  in 
a  fact  so  slight  that  it  is  unnoticed.  See  Jesus  eating ! 
His  pierced  hands  hold  His  food.  It  touches  His  lips. 
It  appeases  His  hunger.  It  mingles  with  His  system. 
Yet  these  simple  acts  were  witnesses  to  the  stupendous 
truth,  that  after  death  He' lived.  His  Apostles  were 
chosen  to  testify  to  a  few  motions  of  His  body.  On  a 
fish-fragment  was  suspended  the  proof  of  His  Messiah- 
ship,  His  Godhead  and  the  Eternal  Life  secured  on  His 
Cross. 

As  in  the  evidence  so  in  the  experience  of  Christian- 
ity. Our  personal  salvation  turns  on  the  simplest  act 
of  the  soul.  Faith  is  the  bond  of  home  ;  the  pulse  of 
business;  the  cement  of  society;  the  life  of  the  state; 
the  salt  of  humanity.     We  behold — 

138 


Each  living  link  in  our  vast  mortal  round 

To  the  whole  chain  by  Heaven's  deep  wisdom  bound, 

Till  trust  in  others  from  our  infant  breath 

Through  all  life's  sorrows  to  the  shades  of  death 

Binds  man  to  man,  form  ties  of  sacred  love 

And  points  us  to  eternal  worlds  above. 

E'en  faith  in  self,  when  obstacles  oppose, 

Which  in  the  breast  of  modest  genius  glows, 

Alone  can  fire  the  daring  soul  for  flight 

Beyond  the  clouds  that  veil  the  fields  of  light. 

The  Faith  of  Nature,  Scripture  makes  the  channel 
of  grace.  Faith  in  the  Promise  of  Jehovah  led  Abra- 
ham to  Canaan ;  nerved  him  to  sacrifice  his  son ;  made 
him  father  of  Israel  and  progenitor  of  Messiah.  Faith 
in  the  Promise  of  Jehovah  inspired  prophets  and 
martyrs  to  dare  and  die.  Faith  in  the  Promise  of 
Jehovah  brought  remission  through  sacrifice,  in  taber- 
nacle and  temple,  to  millions  of  pious  Jews.  Hence,  as 
under  the  Law,  so  under  the  Gospel,  Faith  in  the 
Promise  of  Jehovah  "is  accepted  for  righteousness"  and 
assures  forgiveness.  Paul  does  not  tell  me,  that  for 
my  remission  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  to 
me.  He  asserts  that  my  own  faith  is  received  for  my 
own  righteousness.  Do  I  believe  Scripture,  not  on  the 
authority  of  creeds,  or  councils,  or  theologies,  but  on 
its  proofs  convincing  my  Reason ;  Scripture  then  to  me 
is  the  Inspired  Word  of  God.  To  trust  a  plain  declar- 
ation of  Scripture  is,  therefore,  common  sense.  On  the 
Cross  inspired  Paul  sets  before  us  Incarnate  Godhead. 
Infinite  by  Godhead,  the  sacrifice  is  perfect.  Godhead 
on.  Calvary  gives  atoning  virtue  to  the  Blood  of  Jesus 
for  the  everlasting  salvation  of  billions.  My  guilt  I 
wish  removed;  my  sin  forgiven;  my  person  justified. 
For  this  end  I  trust  the  Promise  of  Jehovah  in  the 
words  of  Paul  when  he    writes    of    Christ    Jesus,    my 

139 


Savior — "Whom  God  hath  set  forth  a  Mercy-seat 
through  faith  in  his  blood  to  declare  his  righteousness 
for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past — that  he  might 
be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  belleveth  in  Jesus. 
Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  counted  unto  him 
for  righteousness.  To  him  that  worketh  not  but  be- 
iieveth  on  Him  that  justineth  the  ungodly,  his  faitii  is 
imputed  for  righteousness.  Happy  is  the  man  whose 
iniquities  are  forgiven,  whose  sins  are  covered !" 

In  a  caustic  and  brilliant  essay,  Mr.  Froude — immor- 
talized in  his  great  history — poured  his  withering  con- 
tempt on  some  humble  disciples  expressing  in  song  the 
glories  of  a  free  salvation  in  the  remission  of  their  sins 
through  the  atoning  blood  of  their  Lord.  He  ridiculed 
the  evangelical  sentiment.  Indeed,  he  seemed  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Faith  of  the  Gospel  preached  by  Paul, 
instead  of  establishing,  relaxed  morality.  In  opposition 
to  this  great  historical  genius  we  wish  to  show  the  con- 
trary. To  us  it  is  clear  that  the  supreme  moral  force 
in  the  universe  is  the  love  of  Christ  kindled  in  human 
hearts  by  remission  through  his  Cross. 

But  mere  emotion  is  always  suspected.  Impulses 
must  be  tested  by  both  life  and  death.  Our  witnesses 
we  will  try  in  the  martyr-blaze.  Apostles  sealed  their 
testimony  with  their  blood.  From  Nero  to  Constantine 
disciples  confessed  their  faith,  fettered  in  dungeons, 
toiling  in  mines,  starved,  scourged,  lacerated,  mutil- 
ated, tortured,  burned,  beheaded.  Unconquerable  love 
for  Christ  conquered  the  world.  Above  the  universal 
gloom  medieval  saints  soared  into  the  sunlight  of  that 
love  of  Christ  which  is  victory.  The  love  of  Christ 
created  the  Reformation.  The  love  of  Christ  was  not 
extinguished  by  the  long,  desolating  wars  between 
Catholic  and  Protestant. 

140 


The  love  of  Christ  now  pours  over  the  earth  its 
treasures  to  alleviate  suffering  and  spread  salvation.  At 
this  moment  a  cannibal-isle  in  the  far  Pacific  witnesses 
that  the  love  of  Christ  is  inextinguishable  even  in  our 
material  age.  Idolatrous  human  flesh-feasts  had  for 
centuries  defiled  a  land  on  which  had  been' lavished  the 
most  brilliant  gifts  of  tropical  beauty.  A  missionary 
dares  place  his  foot  on  this  cursed  shore  peopled  by 
demons.  With  incredible  toil  he  masters  the  island 
language.  He  builds,  he  teaches,  he  preaches,  each 
moment  exposed  to  be  killed  and  devoured !  Peril  he 
meets  with  courage;  snares  with  wisdom;  savagery 
with  patience ;  hatred  with  charity ;  obstacles  with  faith ; 
defeat  with  prayer ;  and  after  years  of  woe  and  waiting 
beholds  his  island  abjure  cannibalism  and  idolatry, 
build  churches,  open  schools,  and  triumph  in  the  salva- 
tion of  the  Lord.  That  Pacific  coral  reef,  in  its  bright 
tropical  glory,  is  our  witness  that  Paul  was  right  when 
he  told  the  Romans  that  the  law  of  God  was  established 
by  the  Faith  of  Christ.  Each  converted  cannibal  is 
living  proof  that  the  Gospel  creates  morality.  And  the 
life-work  of  that  consecrated  missionary  shows  that  the 
love  of  Christ  is  not  only  the  most  powerful  force  in 
our  world  but  also  in  the  universe.  Angels  worship 
■God  as  their  Maker;  redeemed  men  behold  the  Creator 
in  their  flesh,  by  the  blood  of  his  heart  obtaining  their 
salvation.     Hence  mortals  outvoice  cherubim. 

Ye  angels  wake  sublimest  song; 
To  Him  celestial  strains  belong, 

Creation's  King  Divine! 
Oh  that  my  ear  could  catch  your  sound ; 
My  lip  the  glories  voice  around, 

Ye  see  in  Jesus  shine ! 


141 


Bright  seraphs  ye  can  never  glow 
With  joys  we  pardon'd  sinners  know, 

And  which  our  bosoms  fill; 
For  you  no  Savior's  blood  was  spilt 
To  take  away  a  mortal  guilt 

And  with  salvation  thrill. 

Forgiven  all,  from  us  shall  rise 
The  loudest  triumphs  of  the  skies 

When  we  our  Christ  adore; 
In  Heav'n  thy  face  exulting  see 
And  Godhead's  glories  beam  in  thee 

Our  Savior's  evermore. 

We  turn  for  our  explanation  of  this  Transforming 
Power  to  Scripture. 

From  Genesis  to  Revelation  it  is  a  unity  in  a  scarlet 
bond  of  sacrificial  blood.  But  parallel  with  Remission 
by  atonement  was  the  Promise  of  the  Spirit.  Antedil- 
uvians experienced  the  Spirit.  Prophets  were  inspired 
by  the  Spirit.  Ezekiel  affirmed  that  in  man  a  new  heart 
would  be  created  by  the  Spirit.  Micah  said,  "I  am  full 
of  power  by  the  Spirit".  Zechariah  records,  "Not  by 
might  or  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit".  Joel  on  all 
flesh  predicted  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  John  the 
Baptist  promised  the  Spirit.  Jesus  at  the  Jordan  was 
sealed  by  the  Spirit;  said  that  for  asking  would  be 
given  the  Spirit ;  and  commanded  his  disciples  to  wait 
at  Jerusalem  for  the  Spirit.  Pentecost  conferred  the 
Spirit  and  to  Jew  and  Gentile  Peter  preached  by  the 
Spirit.  Paul  is  our  supreme  witness  for  the  Spirit  in 
all  his  life  and  ministry  and  writing.  He  says,  "The 
Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are 
children  of  God."  "Because  ye  are  sons  God  hath  sent 
forth  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  in  your  hearts  crying,  Abba 
Father." 


142 


Remission  is  in  God ;  Regeneration  is  in  man.  Remis- 
sion cancels  guilt ;  Regeneration  begins  holiness.  Remis- 
sion relieves  conscience ;  Regeneration  secures  morality. 
Faith  confirms  Law.  Even  when  feeble,  if  fostered,  it 
tends  to  purify  our  affections,  sanctify  our  relations, 
ennoble  our  duties,  conquer  in  our  trials,  until  it  de- 
velops graces  which  flower  into  the  bloom  of  an  ever- 
lasting glory.  In  its  humblest  form  the  Faifh  of  Christ 
is  a  root  of  life.  As  a  flower  diffuses  sweetness  through 
the  air,  many  a  lowly  disciple  breathes  around  him  an 
unconscious  fragrance  of  character.  Light  is  on  his 
face.  A  bloom  is  in  his  heart.  He  is  free  in  spirit, 
while  bound  in  duty;  charitable  without  ostentation; 
courageous  without  boastfulness ;  humble  without  ser- 
vility ;  devoted  without  fanaticism ;  affectionate  without 
idolatry — a  modest  hero  in  life,  and  in  death  a  crowned 
conqueror. 

Science  points  to  a  period  when,  according  to  Scrip- 
ture, the  Divine  Spirit  brooded  over  the  nebulae  of  in- 
choate worlds.  Out  of  vast  tracts  of  dark  rotating 
particles  was  to  be  evolved  a  universe  of  order.  Al- 
mighty wisdom  foreordained  the  birth  of  innumerable 
suns  and  systems.  Wheeling  and  shining  globes  were 
to  be  peopled  in  the  future  eternity.  What  illimitable 
wisdom  to  shape  and  guide  such  an  infinitude  of  atoms 
into  habitations  of  angelic  hosts  !  But  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  a  function  ^beyond  the  impregnation  of  material 
globes  .  From  paradise  to  judgment-trumpet  what  bil- 
lions of  billions  of  human  immortals  !  Who  can  measure 
their  capacities?  Who  can  know  their  wants?  Who 
can  estimate  their  diversities? — differences  of  constitu- 
tion, of  race,  of  nation,  of  climate,  of  education,  of  en- 
vironment !  From  guilt  to  holiness  the  shades  of  moral 
conditions    beyond    the    number    of    the    stars !      And 

143 


the  scale  as  vast  from  the  zero  of  spiritual  slavery  to 
the  tropic  ardor  of  spiritual  liberty !  Greater  to  shape 
souls  than  worlds !  What  work  so  sublime  as  the  re- 
generation of  the  spirit  of  man  by  the  Spirit  of  God  !  He 
is  the  supreme  educator  for  salvation.  He  woos  and 
chides  and  enlightens.  He  draws  and  drives  and  puri- 
fies and  testifies.  Over  our  moral  chaos  He  broods  for 
everlasting  life.  The  Godhead  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
through. the  Godhead  of  the  crucified  Incarnate  Son, 
is  ever  leading  us  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Godhead  of 
the  reconciled  Father. 

How  insensible  mankind  to  the  impulses  of  the  Divine 
Power !  Yet  if  so  much  is  accomplished  by  our  in- 
fantine piety,  what  may  we  expect  in  the  grand  day 
when  the  Spirit  bursts  on  our  world  to  create  its  spirit- 
ual manhood !  Rent  by  schism  and  groping  in  twilight, 
what  a  force  for  good  is  Christianity !  Free  and  united 
and  enlightened  and  baptized,  the  Church  will  be  an 
invincible  conqueror.  Before  her  is  the  Cross  glorified 
by  Incarnate  Godhead,  and  the  crown  promised  by 
Jesus  Creator  of  All. 


144 


XII. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Is  the  Church  an  autocracy  with  sovereignty  in  the 
Pope?  Or  is  the  Church  an  oligarchy  with  sovereignty 
in  Bishops?  Or  is  the  Church  a  democracy  with  sov- 
ereignty in  clergy  and  laity  together  as  the  People? 
From  Scripture  we  will  seek  answer  to  these  questions. 

Old  Testament 

Priesthood.  This  Jehovah  by  Moses  confined  to  the 
family  of  Aaron.  It  was  a  stringent  oligarchy.  Sacri- 
fice for  sin  was  its  supreme  and  exclusive  work.  But 
in  no  instance  did  the  Priest  pronounce  remission. 
Jehovah,  throughout  the  Old  Testament,  reserved  to 
Himself  the  sovereignty  of  forgiveness.  And  Jehovah 
said  to  all  Israel — "Ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  Kingdom  of 
Priests".  In  some  sacrificial  offerings  the  People  had 
part,  killing  the  victim,  and  partaking  its  flesh. 

Prophecy.  An  oligarchic  priesthood  tended  to 
haughty  exclusiveness  and  mechanical  rigidity.  Its 
fault  was  a  narrowing  and  exacting  conservatism.  Op- 
posed to  the  aristocracy  of  the  Priest  was  the  democracy 
of  the  Prophet.  His  Hebrew  name  implied  spontaneity. 
His   words  flowed   forth   freely   as   a   stream   from   its 

145 


fountain.  His  office  imaged  liberty.  From  all  classes 
sprang  the  Prophet.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  find 
him  a  ploughman,  a  shepherd,  a  priest,  a  king.  Above 
the  fear  of  man,  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  was  to 
rebuke  sin  wherever  found.  Nathan  rebuked  David ; 
Elijah  rebuked  Ahab ;  Jeremiah  rebuked  Jerusalem. 
The  courageous  Prophet,  free  in  spirit,  strong  in  words, 
holy  in  deeds,  in  his  call  and  life  and  work,  typified 
the  democratic  genius  of  Israel,  whose  responsibility 
was  to  Jehovah. 

Kingship.  Moses  was  the  autocrat  of  Jehovah.  He 
was  commanded  by  the  voice  of  Jehovah  from  the  cloud 
above  the  mercy-seat.  By  Jehovah  he  was  invested 
with  sovereignty  over  Israel.  And  Moses  transmitted 
supremacy  to  Joshua.  P>oth  were  untitled,  but  actual 
kings.  Their  work  over,  sovereignty  passed  to  the 
People.  Judges,  for  nearly  five  hundred  years,  were 
rulers  elected  by  the  People.  Saul  and  David  were 
chosen  by  the  People  as  an  example  to  all  their  suc- 
cessors. Sovereignty  was  in  the  People.  When  other 
nations  were  enslaved  by  despots,  under  the  shadows 
of  oriental  tyrannies ;  sole  witnesses  of  the  rightful 
dominancy  of  the  popular  will,  anticipating  the  divine 
i<1eal  of  human  government,  the  Jewish  commonwealth, 
under  the  kingship  of  Jehovah,  stood,  for  ages,  before 
the  whole  turbulent  and  inimical  world,  a  solitary 
Democracy. 

We  do  not  speak  of  mere  governmental  form.  What 
.is  the  power  that  creates?  Democracy  may  choose  an 
hereditary  autocracy.  Democracy  may  choose  a  titled 
oligarchy.  Democracy  may  choose  an  elective  mon- 
archy. Democracy  may  choose  a  constitutional  repub- 
lic.    But  what  Democracy  makes,  Democracy  can  un- 

146 


make.    The  test  of  Democracy  is  the  sovereignty  of  the 
People. 

New   Testament 

Priesthood.  In  Scripture  the  end  of  Priesthood  is 
remission.  Under  Moses,  not  by  the  Priest — Jehovah 
alone  absolved.  And  Christ  only  under  the  Gospel. 
Apostles  had  no  power  to  forgive  sin.  Eternal  Life 
was  not  left  to  human  infirmity.  Infallible  Godhead,  to 
itself,  reserved  the  sovereignty  of  remission. 

But  did  not  Jesus  tell  Peter  that  what  he  bound  and 
loosed  on  earth  should  be  confirmed  in  Heaven?  Yet 
this  was  not  the  gift  of  personal  absolution.  We  must 
interpret  the  authority  of  Peter  by  the  example  of  Peter. 
Never  once  did  Peter  forgive  the  individual  ■  trans- 
gressor. And  no  apostle  transcended  his  example.  In 
the  Evangelical  Histories,  always,  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel simply  proclaimed  the  eternal  condition  of  Salvation 
— Believe  in  Christ  and  be  saved :  Reject  Christ  and 
be  lost. 

In  the  eighteenth  of  Matthew  the  disciples  come  to 
Jesus.  Plainly  the  whole  body  of  his  followers,  because 
He  discourses,  not  of  apostolic  but  universal  duties. 
Yet  on  these,  with  the  Church,  He  bestows  the  power 
to  bind  and  to  loose,  and  in  the  very  words  by  which  it 
was  conferred  on  Peter. 

Prophecy.  We  consider  this  only  as  it  relates  to 
teaching.  In  the  last  of  Matthew  the  grand  function 
of  disciplining  a  world  seems  committed  solely  to  the 
apostles.  But  in  Luke  we  have  a  larger  view.  The  two 
Gospels  must  be  examined  together.  After  the  two 
disciples  left  the  risen  Christ  at  Emmaus  they  returned 
to  Jerusalem.  Here  they  met — whom?  The  eleven 
only?     No!     Also,  "them  that  were  with  them".     The 

147 


room  witnessed  a  transaction  the  reverse  of  that  on  the 
mountain.  Jesus  appears  to  "the  eleven  and  them  that 
were  with  them".  Jesus  opens  the  Scripture  to  "the 
eleven  and  them  that  were  with  them".  Jesus  appoints 
as  his  ''witnesses"  of  "repentance  and  remission",  "to 
be  endued  with  power  from  on  High",  "the  eleven  and 
them  that  were  with  them".  In  obedience  to  this  com- 
mand and  promise  of  Jesus,  at  Pentecost,  assembled  one 
hundred  and  twenty  disciples,  men  and  women.  On 
all  descended  the  tongues  of  fire.  On  all  fell  the  Holy 
Ghost.  On  all  rested  the  power  to  witness.  And  Peter 
affirms  that  in  this  is  fulfilled  the  words  of  God — "I  will 
pour  out  my  Spirit  on  all  flesh".  As  all  were  author- 
ized to  proclaim  remission,  so  all  are  now  endowed  with 
power  to  make  the  message  effectual .  Hence  the  sov- 
ereignty of  Teaching  is  in  the  whole  body  of  believers 
who  compose  the  Universal  Church. 

Kingship.  By  this  we  we  mean  the  authority  to 
govern.  Was  it  in  Peter  as  first  pope?  Was  it  in  the 
apostles  as  bishops?  Was  it  in  the  whole  body  of  be- 
lievers? We  seek  to  know,  from  Scripture  whether  the 
Christian  Church  in  its  legislative  sovereignty,  is  an 
autocracy,  an  oligarchy,  or  a  democracy. 

Let  us  refer  to  the  first  act  of  ecclesiastical  legisla- 
tion. Disciples  assemble  to  elect  an  apostolic  witness 
of  our  Lord  from  baptism  to  ascension.  No  function 
of  the  universe  could  transcend  this  occasion.  Does 
Peter,  as  pope,  appoint  to  the  office  vacant  by  the  sui- 
cide of  Judas?  Or  shall  the  eleven,  as  bishops,  elect  a 
twelfth?  Or  shall  all  believers  vote  in  the  choice?  All 
appointed  Joseph  and  Matthew.  All  assigned  by  lot 
the  latter  to  office.  All  thus  proved  in  themselves  the 
sovereignty  of  ecclesiastical  legislation. 

148 


We  have  considered  the  election  of  a  man.  We  now 
pass  to  the  establishment  of  a  principle. 

Messengers  appear  at  Antioch  with  a  Mosaic  fetter. 
They  insist  that  Gentile  believers  shall  be  circumcised. 
On  the  Gospel  they  place  the  burden  of  the  Law.  Bap- 
tism, with  the  sign  and  seal  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  not 
enough.  Down  through  all  time  Christians  must  be 
circumcised.  Shall  Peter,  as  Pope,  issue  his  encyclical? 
Or  shall  apostles  as  Bishops,  address  a  Pastoral?  Or 
shall  the  whole  Church,  laics  and  clergy,  together  dis- 
cuss and  determine?  "Brethren"  at  Antioch  originate 
the  process.  "Apostles  and  elders"  convene  at  Jerusa- 
lem, with  "the  whole  Church".  "Chief  men  among  the 
brethren"  assist  in  transmitting  the  decree  to  "the  breth- 
ren which  are  of  the  Gentiles  of  Antioch".  From  first 
to  last  "apostles"  share  authority  with  "elders  and 
brethren",  and  prove  that  the  sovereignty  of  legislation 
was  in  all  believers  who  compose  the  universal  Church. 
Thus  liberty  is  secured  against  authority.  Tyrant  and 
revolutionist  are  alike  restrained.  Conservatism  and 
Progress  harmonize  in  the  Church. 

Old  Testament  and  New  set  apart  certain  men  for 
special  functions.  The  people  elect  ministers  whose 
sole  vocation  is  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  administer  the 
sacraments.  An  office  exclusive  in  the  Scripture  must 
be  exclusive  in  the  Church.  In  all  doubtful  questions 
of  organization  and  worship  freedom  is  reserved.  Inner 
liberty  of  faith  must  never  be  fettered  and  chilled  by 
outward  arrangements  of  government.  Christianity  is 
for  all  nations,  all  races,  all  generations.  What  is  free 
by  Scripture  must  not  be  bound  by  ordinance.  What 
suits  England  may  not  suit  China.  What  edifies  the 
African  may  not  edify  the  American.  Christianity  is 
neither  arctic   nor  tropical,   nor  antarctic.      Poles   and 

149 


equator  it  would  unite  in  Christ.  A  Catholic  Religion 
must  embrace  humanity.  It  resembles  the  light  which 
robes  the  universe,  and  which  reflected  and  refracted 
into  an  infinitude  of  beauty,  is  yet  changeless  in  its 
essence,  and  the  chosen  image  of  the  glory  of  its 
Creator. 


150 


XIII. 


CHRISTIAN    PRIESTHOOD 


The  glory  of  the  worship  of  Israel  culminated  in  the 
reign  of  Solomon.  His  temple  combined  in  itself  all 
that  was  splendid  in  architecture  and  magnificent  in 
ritual.  And  the  fame  of  the  father,  poet  and  warrior 
and  king,  shone  on  the  work  of  the  son.  Songs  of 
David  in  the  temple  of  Solomon  inspired  a  worship  of 
Jehovah  which  no  future  ages  could  equal.  About  the 
priest  revolved  the  whole  service.  The  priest  led  the 
music.  The  priest  sacrificed  at  the  altar.  The  priest 
was  omnipresent  in  the  temple.  In  the  villages  the 
priest  taught  the  people,  and  in  the  metropolis  he  was 
made  venerable  in  the  worship  of  Israel.  And  when 
the  temple  was  burned  and  Jerusalem  a  ruin  and  the 
people  captive,  in  the  land  of  the  oppressor  the  priest 
preserved  his  lineage  and  exercised  his  function,  and 
was  ready  for  sacrifice  and  song  when  the  second  tem- 
ple crowned  the  hill  of  Zion.  In  our  Savior's  time, 
under  the  Roman  enslavement,  city  and  village  and 
country  witnessed  the  priest,  going  and  returning  in 
discharge  of  his  annual  sacerdotal  duties.  And  over 
'earth,  in  shrines  richer  and  more  magnificent  than  the 
edifice  Herod  beautified  on  Zion,  the  heathen  priest  was 

151      • 


maintained  in  wealth  and  luxury,  and  venerated  for  his 
office.  Jesus  saw  the  priest  ruling  the  religions  of  the 
world.  In  all  lands  the  priest  was  the  sun  about  which 
worship  revolved. 

It  would  seem  therefore  probable  that  our  Lord 
would  retain  in  his  Church,  in  some  form,  the  title  and 
office  of  priest.  Except  in  Himself  priest  is  eliminated. 
The  change  is  as  great  as  if  all  its  stars  should  drop 
out  of  heaven.  Not  one  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  in  any 
instance  styled  priest  by  our  Lord  or  his  apostles.  Paul 
makes  what  appears  to  be  a  complete  and  exhaustive 
enumeration,  yet  priest  is  omitted.  On  earth  and  in 
paradise  each  saint  is  styled  priest.  Then  in  Scripture 
priest  is  the  title  of  the  disciple  and  not  of  the  minister. 

Yet  in  the  face  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  the 
whole  New  Testament,  over  the  larger  part  of  Christen- 
dom salvation  is  supposed  to  depend  on  the  will  and 
word  of  a  priest.  You  must  be  regenerated  in  baptism 
by  a  priest.  You  must  be  absolved  by  a  priest.  You 
must  be  fed  with  grace  in  Eucharist  by  a  priest.  You 
must  receive  at  death  unction  by  a  priest.  Between 
each  soul  and  Christ— a  priest !  Heaven  and  Hell  com- 
manded by  a  priest !  Such  is  the  sway  of  the  priest  over 
three  hundred  millions  of  Christendom.  Are  patriarch 
and  pope  wiser  than  Christ  and  his  apostles?  Are  the 
Greek  and  Latin  churches  above  Scripture?  When 
Peter  is  not  called  a  priest ;  when  John  is  not  called  a 
priest ;  when  Paul  is  not  called  a  priest ;  nor  any  apostle, 
bishop,  presbyter,  deacon,  teacher,  evangelist ;  when  our 
Lord  is  alone  called  Priest,  is  it  not  a  tyrannical  and 
intolerable  and  arrogant  assumption  in  any  communion 
to  retain  the  office  and  function  and  name  of  priest? 
Let  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  answer ! 

In  all  things   Anglicanism  is  compromise.     English 

.     152 


articles  and  homilies  style  transubstantiation  a  super- 
stition. Such  a  declaration,  in  its  essence,  destroys  the 
sacerdotal  office.  Offering  is  the  function  of  a  priest. 
Without  offering  priest  is  absurd.  When  Anglicanism 
takes  away  transubstantiation  it  takes  away  offering 
and  leaves  its  priest  a  shadow  and  a  mockery.  English 
priest  is  Roman  ghost. 

Anglicanism  has  in  secession  paid  the  price  of  com- 
promise. Of  her  clergy  and  people  thousands  have 
gone  to  Rome.  Multitudes  hover  fascinated  around  the 
abyss.  The  unscriptural  word  priest  in  the  English 
Prayer  Book  is  the  mere  shadow  of  an  office,  and  yet 
this  spider-thread  is  a  bridge  across  which  crowds  pass 
into  doubt  and  darkness  and  bondage.  Priest  leads  to 
offering.  Offering  leads  to  transubstantiation.  Tran- 
substantiation leads  to  Altar-adoration.  Altar-adora- 
tion leads  to  the  Pope.  It  is  thus  that  the  great  Protest- 
ant Anglican  Church — born  mid  martyr-fires — so  noble 
in  her  history  and  liturgy — has  prepared  free  Britons 
for  spiritual  slavery. 


153 


XIV. 
SACRAMENTAL    SALVATION 

An  Article  of  our  Episcopal  Prayer  Book  states — 
"That  we  are  justified  by  Faith  only  is  a  most  whole- 
some Doctrine". 

Here  we  have  that  truth  which  was  the  very  soul  of 
Paul.  It  is  the  key  to  his  character,  his  epistles,  his 
preaching,  his  life,  his  Work.  He  proclaimed  remission 
and  regeneration  through  faith  in  the  blood  of  Jesus 
our  Incarnate  God.  Faith  was  the  only  condition  of 
this  salvation.  Between  the  believing  soul  and  the 
atoning  Savior  nothing  was  to  interpose  from  earth  or 
hell  or  heaven.  No  pope,  no  patriarch,  no  bishop,  no 
priest,  no  sacrament,  no  demon  or  angel  was  to  cast  a 
shadow  hiding  from  the  faith  of  man  the  forgiveness  of 
God.  To  each  individual  salvation  was  free  as  air ; 
free  as  light ;  free  as  the  Holy  Ghost  who  is  the  true 
spring  of  human  liberty.  Justification  by  faith  was  the 
torch  by  which  Paul  illuminated  Asia  and  Europe.  It 
is,  indeed  the  sun  of  Scripture,  and  was  the  light  of  the 
Reformation.  And  nowhere  is  it  more  lucidly  stated ; 
more  powerfully  defended  ;  more  eloquently  impressed, 
than  in  the  homilies  of  the  Anglican  Church,  which  in 
its  birth  and  its  articles  is  Protestant  as  Luther. 

But  the  liberty  of  homilies  and  articles  is  fettered  by 
creed  and  office.  We  acknowledge — "One  Baptism  for 
the  remission  of  sins".    Greek  and  Latin  Fathers  taught 

154 


that  remission  and  regeneration  were  conferred  only  in 
Baptism.  Thus  by  the  Nicene  Creed  Salvation  is  tied 
to  Sacrament.  And  this  too  is  the  Anglican  doctrine 
expressed  in  our  American  office.  Before  applying 
water  the  clergyman  prays  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  after  applying  water  he  thanks  God 
for  the  regeneration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  an  accom- 
plished fact.  Creed  and  office  antagonize  article  and 
homily.  Subscribing  both  the  minister  binds  himself 
to  everlasting  opposites.  Vows  are  broken,  consciences 
wounded,  lives  wasted  in  efforts  to  harmonize  irrecon- 
cilables.  Incertitude  in  the  standard  creates  doubt  in 
the  clergyman.  He  affirms  that  remission  and  regenera- 
tion are  in  his  Baptism,  and  does  yet  not  know  that  he 
has  imparted  to  a  soul  everlasting  life.  Scripture  gives 
no  assurance.  Is  the  Church  wiser  than  the  Savior  and 
his  apostles?  Shall  inspired  men  be  taught  by  men 
uninspired?  Should  that  be  in  creed  and  office  which 
is  not  in  the  Bible  ?  How  serious  mistake !  No  mor- 
tal can  penetrate  a  soul,  and  know  that  in  it  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  effected  salvation  by  liberating  from  the 
guilt  and  power  and  pollution  of  sin,  and  no  mortal, 
therefore,  should  declare  such  a  result. 

And  no  more  fearful  injury  can  be  inflicted  than  to 
tell  a  man  that  he  is  born  from  above  and  an  heir  of  the 
life  everlasting,  while  he  is  yet  in  the  mist  and  slavery 
of  that  carnality  which  is  enmity  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
whose  child  he  has  been  pronounced.  Indeed  such 
human  assumption  might  almost  seem  a  blasphemy  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Vain  in  creed  or  office  to  tie  to  Bap- 
tism that  Holy  Spirit  free  as  the  universal  air  and  light 
and  love  of  the  Father  of  All.  No !  When  a  penitent 
soul  would  believe  in  the  Blood  of  the  Divine  Lamb  for 
remission  and  regeneration  it  need  wait  for  no  priest 

155 


and  no  sacrament.  On  the  land  and  on  the  sea,  amid 
loss  or  gain  or  pain  or  joy,  in  the  flush  of  life,  in  the 
gasp  of  death,  where  no  eye  sees  and  no  ear  hears  and 
no  hand  ministers  I  may  turn  by  faith  to  my  Savior, 
and  be  separated  from  the  forgiving  love  of  the  Father, 
and  the  witnessing  grace  of  his  Spirit  by  nothing  in  the 
universe  of  the  Omnipotent. 

Xow  let  us  inquire  whether,  indeed.  Scripture  in  re- 
mission .and  regeneration  restricts  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
the  water  of  Baptism. 

Pentecost 
In  the  most  notable  sermon  ever  delivered  the  argu- 
ment is  for  sacramental  salvation.  The  glow  of  the 
baptism  of  fire  is  still  on  the  head  of  the  chief  apostle. 
In  its  light  and  liberty  and  power  his  tongue  has  just 
been  speaking.  Standing  as  a  witness  with  the  eleven 
Peter  preaches  Christ  prophesied ;  Christ  crucified ; 
Christ  glorified.  A  penitent  multitude  cries — "What 
shall  we  do?"  Peter  answers — ''Repent  and  be  baptized 
every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the 
remission  of  your  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost",  thus  imparted  in  the  Baptism. 

Caesarea 
A  vision  from  Heaven  shows  Peter  that  the  Gentiles 
will  be  received  to  salvation,  and  an  angel  instructs 
Cornelius  to  send  for  the  apostle.  He  stands  amid  the 
kinsmen  and  friends  of  the  pious  and  prayerful  cen- 
turion. As  at  Pentecost  Peter  preaches  his  crucified 
and  risen  and  ascended  Lord.  The  Divine  Spirit  seals 
his  word.  As  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  so  now  the  Gen- 
tiles at  Caesarea  are  converted.  Then  answered  Peter, 
"Can  any  man  forbid  water  that  these  should  not  be 
baptized  which  have  received  the   Holy  Ghost  as  well 

156 


as  we?"    Here  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  is  conferred  before 
Baptism. 

Ephesus 

Now  instead  of  Peter  we  have  Paul.  The  apostle,  of 
the  Gentiles  is  in  the  splendid  capital  made  illustrious 
by  a  temple  which  recalled  the  glory  of  the  Parthenon. 
An  image  of  Diana  believed  to  have  fallen  from  heaven 
gave  peculiar  veneration  to  the  shrine  of  the  goddess. 
Finding  certain  disciples  Paul  said  to  them,  "Have  ye 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed?"  And  they 
said  unto  him,  "We  have  not  so  much  as  heard  whether 
there  be  a  Holy  Ghost". — When  Paul  laid  his  hands 
upon  them  "the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them". — Hence 
after  Baptism. 

We  must  consider  together  the  transactions  at  Jeru- 
salem, Caesarea  and  Ephesus.  One  illustrates  the 
other.  All  show  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given,  ist, 
In  Baptism ;  2nd,  Before  Baptism ;  3rd,  After  Baptism. 
Hence  the.  Holy  Ghost  in  conversion  is  not  restricted  to 
Baptism.  Vain  then  for  priest  in  Sacrament  to  im- 
prison Omnipotence !  He  can  not  chain  God  by  human 
fetter.  Let  the  Greek  and  Latin  and  Anglican  Churches 
inquire  whether,  in  creed  or  office,  they  have  by  Script- 
ure, authority  to  tie  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  remission  and 
regeneration,  to  Baptism !  Their  Lord  left  Him  free. 
The  penalty  for  restriction  is  bondage  to  the  mortal 
who  would  bind  Godhead.  Our  Savior  imaged  the 
Holy  Ghost  by  the  invisible  winds,  stirring  into  cease- 
less motion  the  universal  air  with  all  its  infinite  varia- 
tions from  breeze  to  tempest,  and  which  supports  vital- 
ity in  fly  and  eagle,  in  limpet  and  leviathan,  in  worm 
and  man,  and  breathes  its  life  into  garden  and  orchard 
and  forest,  and  vivifies  the  grass  whose  verdure  carpets 
our  world. 

157 


XV. 


ANGLICAN  REFORM 


Our  English  via  media  was  an  expedient.  It  was  a 
temporary  bridge  over  a  perilous  chasm.  Time  has  vin- 
dicated and  exhausted  its  utility.  The  first  articles  of 
King  Henry  in  1536  exposed  its  divergence  from  Pro- 
testantism. Remission  of  sin  was  not  always  and  every- 
where through  personal  faith  in  the  Blood  of  the  Divine 
Christ,  but  bestowed  in  Baptism  by  priests  in  the  apos- 
tolic succession.  Cranmer,  Latimer,  Ridley,  Hooper, 
possibly  Jewell  and  Parker,  would  have  harmonized  the 
English  Church  with  Paul  and  Luther.  Cromwell,  Cecil, 
Walsingham  and  Lord  Bacon,  were  all,  most  probably, 
English  Puritans.  But  Henry  was  immovable,  and  the 
perils  of  Elizabeth  made  extremes  impracticable.  She 
was  in  daily  danger  from  pistol,  poison  and  dagger.  If 
we  may  credit  Froude  her  proposed  assassins  were 
blessed  by  the  Pope.  Nothing  saved  her  but  her  mas- 
culine courage  and  feminine  dexterity.  In  her  realm 
Catholics  outnumbered  Protestants.  Hence  the  neces- 
sity that  both  should  be  comprehended  in  the  creed 
and  worship  of  a  National  Church.  Compromise  was 
inevitable.  Anglicanism  was  the  expression  of  the  prac- 
tical and   conservative  and  dominating   British  genius, 

158 


and  has  given  cohesive  strength  to  the  British  Empire. 
Is  our  age  sounding  the  knell  of  its  via  media?  In 
England  and  America  its  bridge  seems  disintegrating 
at  both  ends.  Here  the  fragments  tumble  to  Papacy 
and  there  to  Potestantism,  while  the  venerable  structure 
trembles,  exposed  to  tempests  more  furious  than  those 
of  oceans. 

Let  us  review  the  situation ! 

We  have  seen  that  the  Bishop  of  Western  Michigan 
reports  clerical  apostacies  and  immoralities  in  his  Dio- 
cese which  make  a  picture  darker  than  Bishop  Meade's 
colonial  portraits.  In  a  secular  monthly  the  Bishop  of 
Michigan  publishes  an  article  giving  the  world  what  we 
may  style  the  Ingersoll  view  of  prophecy  and  miracle. 
A  member  of  our  American  Episcopate  would  reduce 
Christianity  to  the  standard  of  Paganism,  and  refer  both 
to  that  human  soul  his  article  describes  as  born  in  cor- 
ruption. Jehovah  and  Jupiter  he  evolves  by  the  same 
process.  In  our  metropolitan  Diocese  we  have  clergy- 
men who  preach  and  teach  and  print  every  form  of 
hyperergic  infidelity,  from  a  God  all  matter  to  a  Bible 
all  man.  Passing  to  the  other  extreme,  a  morning  paper 
reports  that  seven  of  our  clergymen  have  seceded  from 
Protestantism  to  that  Popery  denounced  by  our  Hom- 
ilies with  withering  argument  and  blazing  eloquence. 
And  in  our  Seminary  a  Professor  is  organizing  a  society 
to  reconcile  our  Episcopal  Church  with  Trentine  canons 
and  the  Vatican  decree,  and  educate  us  to  worship 
saints,  to  multiply  images,  to  adore  the  altar  elements, 
to  send  our  wives  and  daughters  to  priests  for  con- 
fession, to  convert  our  married  clergymen  into  unscrip- 
tural  celibates ;  and  for  the  supremacy  of  Scripture  to 
substitute  the  self-asserted  infallibility  of  popes  who 
damn  the  whole  world  which  denies  their  pontificial 
claim. 

159 


In  England  the  condition  is  worse  than  in  America. 

Since  the  secession  of  Newman,  Manning  and  Wil- 
berforce,  British  Clergymen  and  laymen  have  swarmed 
in  thousands  to  Rome.  The  Via  Media  has  resembled 
an  ancient  highway,  pointing  to  the  golden  mile-post  in 
the  Forum,  alive  with  returning  armies  to  the  imperial 
city.  Three  secret  organizations  have  been  working  to 
mould  Anglicans  for  the  Pope: — The  Society  of  the 
Holy  Cross;  The  Order  of  Confederate  Reunion;  and 
The  Confraternity  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  All  are 
animated  by  one  supreme  object.  They  would  bring 
England  back  to  Rome.  To  them  Protestantism  is  a 
deadly  schism,  and  Luther  an  incarnate  demon.  Why 
violate  their  vows  and  their  manhood  by  holding  their 
livings  and  drawing  their  salaries?  Because,  these 
shepherds  say,  they  have  not  yet  sufficiently  fattened 
their  flocks  for  transportation.  After  studying  the  evi- 
dence we  will  state  our  impressions.  To  us  these  clergy- 
men seem  perjurers.  Their  crime  that  of  the  son  stab- 
bing his  mother ;  the  soldier  striking  down  his  flag ;  the 
assassin  smiting  in  the  dark.  We  have  recently  read  the 
biographies  of  Gladstone,  and  the  Archbishops  Benson 
and  Temple,  Bishop  Creighton  and  Lords  Selberneand 
Coleridge  and  Acton,  and  we  recall  the  immortal  works 
of  Lightfoot  and  Westcott  and  Alford.  What  scholar- 
ship! What  statesmanship !  What  magnanimity !  The 
faces  of  these  men  interpret  their  lives.  They  were 
created  by  the  Almighty  to  be  builders  of  Empire  and 
defenders  of  Church.  Stupendous  the  descent  from 
these  illustrious  Englishmen  to  their  countrymen  in  the 
Anglican  Societies !  We  sink  into  a  lower  order  j{ 
existence  after  perusing  the  damaging  testimony;  we 
feel  that  thousands  of  British  clergymen  have  sacrificed 
that  British  integrity  which  we  have  been  taught  to  ad- 

160 


mire  as  the  heritage  and  glory  of  the  British  people. 
They  have  made  an  alien  priestly  infamy  their  own. 
On  them  is  the  prophetic  mark  of  the  apocalyptic  image. 
As  we  write  there  will  rise  before  us  the  face  of  Esau 
who  sold  his  birthright,  and  of  Judas  who  sold  the 
Christ ! 

The  result  of  these  clerical  treacheries  is  to  make  the 
English  people  more  Protestant  than  ever.  Purcell's 
life  of  Manning  has  left  an  impression  time  will  never 
efface.  Spies  and  weaklings  relieve  Anglicanism  and 
disintegrate  Romanism.  Let  each  man  go  where  he  be- 
longs !  Better  that  the  laboring  mountain  cast  forth  its 
poisonous  exhalations.  But  Anglican  discords  and 
secessions  arm  and  invigorate  Dissent  for  Disestablish- 
ment. 

We  propose  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  evils 
disturbing  the  Church  of  England. 

Christianity  was  an  organized  democracy.  Scripture 
shows  the  original  constitution  of  the  Church.  Sover- 
eignty was  in  clergy  and  laity  together.  Clergy  and 
laity  united  in  themselves  the  whole  wisdom  of  the 
Christian  Commonwealth.  Clergy  and  laity  composed 
that  first  council  of  Jerusalem  which  is  a  model  for  all 
time.  ''Apostles,  Elders  and  Brethren"  met  to  discuss 
and  decide  the  momentous  question  of  circumcision. 
Popes  soon  began  to  plan  their  own  sovereignty.  The 
martyr  Polycarp  acknowledged  their  supremacy  by  a 
visit  to  Rome.  Each  ecumenical  council  witnessed  some 
assertion  of  the  papal  claim.  Emperors  accentuated  the 
ambition  of  pontiffs.  Valentinian  gave  liberty  of  eccles- 
iastic appeal  to  the  Holy  Father.  Theodosius  declared 
the  Roman  religion  a  standard  for  the  universal  church. 
Justinian  confirmed  a  decree  of  Gratian  which  made  the 
pope   supreme.     Crowned  by  a  pontiff,   Charlemagne, 

161 


by  his  imperial  power,  supported  the  ecclesiastical  sover- 
eignty of  Rome.  During  the  middle  ages  popes  and 
emperors  warred  with  each  other.  But  eventually  the 
Roman  pontiff  triumphed,  and  realized  his  ideal  when 
Innocent  III.  bestowed  crowns  on  England,  France  and 
Germany.  Long  before  his  ascendency,  had  disappeared 
every  visible  trace  of  the  Scriptural  democratic  consti- 
tution of  the  Church.  Laymen  were  excluded  from  all 
legislation.  In  no  ecclesiastical  assembly  had  the  people 
vote  or  voice.  Europe  was  ruled  by  a  tonsured  aris- 
tocracy under  the  sovereignty  of  the  pope.  Prelates 
composed  cabinets.  Diets  supplanted  legislatures.  Bish- 
ops governed  as  princes  and  ruled  as  warriors.  With 
its  laymen  eliminated  from  all  legislation,  the  Catholic 
Church  is  now  a  prelatical  aristocracy  ruled  by  a  papal 
autocrat. 

In  the  opposite  extreme  Henry  VIII.  revolutionized 
England.  That  tyrant  and  his  Commons  wrought 
changes  without  parallel  in  history.  No  man  was  ever 
confronted  by  greater  obstacles.  He  triumphed  over 
lords  and  clergy  and  pope.  He  led  his  people  like  a 
flock.  Lie  manipulated  the  Commons.  When  a  reform- 
atory measure  was  passed  in  Parliament  it  was  nullified 
by  Convocation.  Ecclesiastics  defeated  civilians.  Eng- 
land, was  torn  by  deadly  strifes  between  prelates  and 
people.  A  royal  remedy  was  discovered.  Parliament 
decreed  that  no  canon  of  Convocation  should  be  valid 
without  the  signature  of  the  King!  The  blow  was  in 
the  heart  and  the  wound  fatal.  Two  centuries  elapsed 
before  the  death-spasm.  Passing  the  times  of  Star 
Chamber  and  High  Commission,  in  the  year  17 17,  Con- 
vocation enacted  its  last  canon  and  expired.  It  survives 
in  name,  but  resembles  the  wind-cave  of  CEolus ;  or  our 

162 


American  Church  Congress,  profuse  in  words  and  im- 
potent for  laws. 

Our  world  thus  beholds  evolved  by  History  two 
ecclesiastical  opposites,  each  reversing  Scripture !  The 
Arctic  Latin  Church  with  laymen  eliminated  from  legis- 
lation ;  and  the  Antarctic  Anglican  Church  with  laymen 
sovereign  in  its  legislation.  The  result!  Polar  chill  in 
the  atmosphere  of  Christendom ! 

Human  guilt!  Is  it  a  universal  fact?  Assuming  it, 
is  the  Bible  true  or  false?  Redemption  presumes  curse. 
Salvation  presumes  sin.  Remission  presumes  guilt. 
Regeneration  presumes  degeneration.  Resurrection 
presumes  death.  Amid  a  world  of  pain  and  doubt, 
Scripture  presumes  in  each  man's  heart  an  unrest  in  the 
present  which  is  fire  and  worm,  and  the  dread  of  a 
future  leading  to  judgment.  History  confirms  the  Bible. 
Intuitions  of  nature  become  the  problems  of  theology. 
Almighty  God  in  Scripture  gives  his  own  sovereign 
answer  to  our  mortal  doubts,  yearnings  and  inquiries. 
From  creation  to  judgment  He  offers  pardon  and  purity 
to  Humanity.  What  Jesus  styles  Remission,  Paul  calls 
Justification.  Each  term  means  forgiveness  from  die 
Omnipotent  Creator  of  the  Universe.  In  my  naked  per- 
sonality T  am  brought  before  Godhead.  Blazes  upon  me 
the  everlasting  holiness.  Amid  a  light  which  dazzles 
angels,  sublimely  a  mortal  stands  approved.  Reversed 
his  curse,  with  him  now  the  smile  and  infinitude  of  Al- 
mighty God.  Paul  says  that  faith  in  the  Blood  of  the 
Divine  Christ  is  accepted  for  righteousness  in  Remis- 
sion, while  the  Holy  Ghost  works  our  Regeneration  and 
attests  our  Sonship,  and  cries  in  our  hearts  "Abba, 
Father".  This  is  the  glorious  liberty  for  which  Christ 
made  us  free.  It  admits  no  intermediary.  It  allows  no 
exception.      It    rejects    all  participation.     In  salvation 

163 


slave  and  peasant  have  the  same  needs  as  pontiffs  and 
emperors.  Curse  and  cross  equalize  humanity.  Heaven 
sweeps  into  glory  all  earthly  distinctions. 

Such  was  the  Gospel  of  Paul !  Instead  of  political 
emancipation  he  offered  spirit-liberty.  His  message  was 
relief  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin  into  the  freedom 
of  an  everlasting  salvation.  When  Paul  died,  a  fetter 
was  ready  for  his  Gospel.  For  three  centuries  battle 
raged  between  carnal  slavery  and  spiritual  liberty. 
Under  the  saintly  and  eloquent  Cyprian  Prelacy  and 
Sacerdotalism  triumphed.  Priest  and  Bishop  and  Sacra- 
ment came  between  each  soul  and  Christ.  Under  Au- 
gustine and  Chrysostom  the  glory  of  the  liberty  of  the 
Gospel  passed  into  a  twilight  resembling  that  of  the  sun 
in  his  eclipse.  The  most  splendid  of  occidental  writers, 
and  the  most  illustrious  of  oriental  orators,  and  the  most 
saintly  men  of  their  times  tied  Justification  and  Regen- 
eration to  Baptism.  A  priest  by  water  begat  a  soul  to 
everlasting  life !  A  priest  had  a  power  above  emperors 
and  angels !  A  priest  in  sacrament  recreated  man  in  the 
image  of  God !  Hence  priest  was  magnified  in  an 
efflorescence  of  oratory  which  reminds  us  that  the 
classic  age  had  been  left  behind.  As  a  result  medieval 
darkness,  bondage  and  corruption ! 

Luther  revived  Paul.  Reformation  came  to  restore 
the  liberty  of  the  Gospel.  Germany  gave  it  teachers  and 
England  martyrs.  But  Anglicanism  was  compelled  ro 
its  inevitable  chain.  What  it  declared  in  Article  and 
expounded  in  Homily,  it  nullified  in  Office.  Instead  of 
Christ  and  Paul  and  Luther  it  followed  Cyprian  and 
Augustine  and  Chrysostom.  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers 
from  force  of  custom,  guided  rather  than  Scripture. 
The  Justification  of  the  article,  with  Regeneration,  were 
conferred  by  an  Apostolic   Priest  in   Baptism.     Hence 

164 


that  Anglicanism  which  effeminated  Reformation.  It 
was  transferred  to  our  American  Prayer  Book.  Be- 
tween Low  Church,  which  accepted  article,  and  High 
Church,  which  emphasized  office,  for  a  century,  war  rent 
our  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Diocese  was  against 
Diocese ;  Bishop  was  against  Bishop ;  Clergyman  was 
against  Clergyman ;  Society  was  against  Society ;  Con- 
vention was  against  Convention.  The  views  of  the  two 
parties  are  contradictories.  Reconciliation  is  impossible 
between  a  doctrine  affirming  that  Remission  is  by  a 
Priest  only  in  Baptism,  and  a  doctrine  affirming  that 
Remission  may  be  always  without  a  Priest  in  Baptism. 
Yet  each  opposite  doctrine  is  bound  to  the  other  in  our 
Episcopal  Prayer  Book. 

Behold  an  eagle  spreading  its  wings  above  a  Lectern ! 
Sublime  image  of  our  Salvation,  and  the  flight  of  each 
believer  in  freedom  to  Christ  our  everlasting  sun !  Chain 
the  bird  to  the  Font !  You  symbolize  Anglicanism ! 
End  the  strife  of  centuries  !  Complete  the  Reformation ! 
Restore  the  Gospel  of  Paul !  Break  the  baptimal  fet- 
ter !  Let  the  eagle  soar  into  the  aerial  regions  of  light 
and  liberty  and  glory ! 

More  than  now,  never  did  our  Church  need  the  vigil- 
ance of  our  Bishops  and  the  wisdom  of  our  Conven- 
tions. Hyperergic  clerical  infidels  are  not  her  sole 
menace.  Rome  is  said  to  be  organizing  in  our  metro- 
politan seminary.  Even  now  it  may  have  within  its  walls, 
under  their  English  names,  the  three  secret  associations 
which  would  lead  Anglicanism  to  the  Pope,  and  blot 
out  Protestantism  forever. 

That  we  may  know  our  peril  we  will  turn  from 
America  to  England. 

We  transport  ourselves  to  Pater  Noster  Row  in  Lon- 
don.   A  crowd  stands  before  a  bookstore.     Curious  and 

165 


amazed  they  are  staring  into  a  window !  What  strange 
objects  are  displayed!  Abroad  piece  of  bristling  horse- 
hair to  be  clasped  about  the  body !  Intricate  wire  which 
is  a  maze  of  points !  Thongs  of  knotted  ropes  and  pol- 
ished steel  to  lacerate  the  flesh!  Barbed  wristlets  and 
anklets  to  make  an  agony  exceeding  that  of  a  chained 
slave  !  Who  buy  and  use  these  tortures  ?  On  the  proof 
English  Clergymen !  Graduates  of  universities,  like 
medieval  monks  scourging  sin  from  soul !  Lust  beat  out 
by  self-torture  of  the  flesh !  The  religion  of  England 
sunk  down  into  the  superstitions  of  flagellant  anchor- 
ites and  fanatical  idolaters!  From  the  light  of  our  cen- 
tury humanity  rolled  back  into  the  midnight  of  the  mid- 
dle ages ! 

Let  us  now  visit  a  London  Church !  It  is  Corpus 
Christi  Day.  Near  the  chancel  towers  aloft  an  image 
of  our  Saviour.  In  staring  admiration  men  are  lying 
on  the  floor.  Who  grovel  there?  Englishmen?  Or  are 
we  in  the  city  of  the  Pope?  Those  abject  worshippers 
are  Anglican  clergymen.  Not  long  since  their  lips,  now 
repeating  idolatries,  were  saying  the  English  Com- 
munion Office — "Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any 
graven  image — thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  them  and 
worship  them".  In  this  spiritual  degradation  seem 
united  perjury,  infidelity,  rebellion,  and  idolatry.  Our 
century  sees  our  most  cultured  humanity  in  the  gloom 
of  an  abyss  of  monkish  debasement. 

The  movement  began  in  a  creed  of  pious  fraud. 
Newman  organized  'his  British  monastery  by  quoting 
and  following  a  precept  of  Clement  Alexandrinus — "A 
Christian  fully  persuaded  of  the  omnipotence  of  God, 
and  ashamed  to  come  short  of  the  truth,  is  satisfied  with 
the  approval  of  God,  and  his  own  conscience,  and  speaks 
the  truth,  except  where  careful  treatment  is  necessary. 

166 


and  then  as  a  physician  for  the  good  of  his  patients,  he 
zvill  lie." 

One  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  movement,  an  inti- 
mate of  Newman,  emphasized  the  Greek  Clement  with 
a  British  energy.  He  spoke  with  the  chivalry  of  a 
knight-errant  of  falsehood.  Ward  said,  "make  yourself 
clear  that  you  are  right,  and  then  Lie  like  a  Trooper." 
Was  the  priest  hetter  than  his  creed?  We  hope  that  he 
never  defiled  his  lips  with  the  profane  falsehoods  of  a 
swaggering  soldier. 

Are  the  theories  and  practices  described  about  to  be 
transplanted  from  England  to  America?  Our  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  may  witness  the  horsehair  flesh- 
band  ;  the  whizz  of  the  lacerating  scourge  ;  the  agonizing 
anklets,  and  the  idolatrous  image  adored  by  grovelling 
clergymen.  To  meet  the  crisis  we  do  not  doubt  the 
wisdom  of  our  Episcopacy  and  our  Conventions.  Nor 
do  we  presume  to  be  their  oracle.  We  dare  not  assume 
a  prophetic  mantle.  An  individual  opinion  we  may 
venture  to  suggest,  for  which  we  have  heretofore  pub- 
lished reasons  which  we  will  not  now  repeat.  The 
writer  would  end  the  war  of  centuries  by  radical 
changes  made  through  our  constitutional  authorities. 

I. — Eliminate  Priest  from  Prayer  Book. 

II. — In  the  Baptismal  Offices  omit  the  thanksgiving 
for  degeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

III. — Grant  to  all  Rectors  of  all  parishes  the  right  to 
invite  to  all  services  reputable  ministers  who  receive 
Holy  Scripture  as  a  revelation  of  Salvation  recorded 
by  inspired  men,  and  the  sole  universal  rule  for  the 
faith  and  practice  of  Christendom. 

But  as  our  American  Church  would  never  make  any 
changes  in  her  constitution  so  revolutionary,  without 
the  cooperation   of  the  English   Church,  we  will  now 

167 


inquire  whether  Anglicanism  has  the  practical  power 
to  legislate  in  a  movement  so  momentous. 

Take  away  from  our  Church  her  General  Conven- 
tion !  Take  away  her  Diocesan  Conventions !  Take 
away  her  judiciary!  Transfer  to  Congress  her  sover- 
eignty !  Let  her  stand  helpless  to  pass  a  canon  or  try 
an  offender !  Our  American  Church  would  then  picture 
the  Anglican  Church.  Practically  impotent  to  legislate 
is  a  Communion  wide  as  the  British  Empire,  with  its 
vast  endowed  wealth,  and  surpassing  scholarship ;  its 
palaced  Bishops  and  peerless  universities ;  its  lords  and 
princes  and  monarchs.  Its  Convocation  a  corpse  and 
Parliament  its  life.  A  Lay  Head  !  A  Lay  Legislature  ! 
Lay  Courts  !  An  ecclesiastic  Lay  Monstrosity !  Bishops 
ashamed  to  ask  a  lay  parliament  for' canons,  and  a  lay 
parliament  ashamed  to  exercise  spiritual  rule !  Hence 
embarrassment  and  impotency ! 

To  obtain  laws  without  humiliation  one  eternal  prob- 
lem !  Archbishops  lecturing  and  beseeching  where  they 
should  command  and  prosecute !  Government  impos- 
sible !  Paralysis  chronic !  Temptation  to  forget  the 
miserable  dependence  in  lordly  assertion ;  in  glitter  of 
wealth  and  pomp  of  grandeur,  and  ostentation  of  cere- 
monial ! 

The  giantess  Mauretania  speeds  over  the  Atlantic, 
outracing  the  winds.  As  if  in  play  her  turbine  wheels 
drive  through  the  waves  this  mighty  mass  of  iron  popu- 
lated like  a  city.  Her  propellers  stop.  She  tosses  on 
the  ocean  a  helpless  hulk,  obstructing  commerce  and 
passed  by  small  craft,  each  exulting  in  speed  and  free- 
dom. A  Mauretania,  impotent  by  accident,  represents 
the  Anglican  Church  in  its  legislative  imbecility,  sur- 
rounded by  dissenting  bodies  sovereign  in  their  spirit- 
ual government. 

168 


What  a  tangle  of  contradictions  woven  by  the  capric- 
ious necessity  of  History !  In  the  British  Parliament, 
Jews  with  jurisdiction  over  Christians  and  Catholics 
over  Protestants !  Atheists  making  laws  for  Christ ! 
Infidels  defenders  of  the  Faith !  Laborites,  socialists 
and  anarchists  legislating  for  the  Church  with  orthodox 
lords  and  apostolic  bishops  !  Anglican  Prelates  resemble 
waxen  figures,  robed  and  mitred  and  jewelled,  glitter- 
ing in  costly  magnificence  and  assuming  an  independent 
dignity,  yet  moved  by  wires  pulled  by  children  and 
enemies. 

The  present  ridiculous  and  humiliating  and  uncom- 
fortable situation,  was  yet  a  historical  necessity.  Henry 
VIII.,  a  lustful  tyrant,  was  an  illustrious  statesman. 
He  was  the  leader  who  understood  his  commons  and 
country,  and  who  had  the  wisdom  and  the  courage  to 
free  England  from  the  Pope.  In  his  age  he  alone  could 
have  accomplished  this  supreme  end.  And  the  means 
he  adopted  seem  the  only  possible.  But  if  Parliament 
made,  Parliament  can  unmake.  Over  the  Church  of 
England  Parliament  is  sovereign.  Then  from  Parlia- 
ment must  come  relief.  But  who  shall  first  move  in  a 
work  of  Reform?  Jews?  Atheists?  Infidels?  Labor- 
ites ?  Socialists  ?  Anarchists  ?  Lay  Lords  ?  Or  the 
King?  Who  should  take  the  initiative  in  liberating 
from  its  political  bondage  the  glorious  old  Church  of 
England  ?     Her  Primate  ! 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  is  the  true,  lawful  and 
natural  leader  of  the  Anglican  Communion.  He  should 
be  the  apostle  of  her  spiritual  independence.  He  should 
assert  the  authority  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Head  of 
Church  and  Universe.  He  should  break  the  fetter 
which  binds  the  kingdom  of  earth  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.      He  should  devise  a  plan  transferring  from 

169 


Parliament  to  Convocation  trie  Scriptural  sovereignty 
of  the  Church  of  England.  In  recent  British  legisla- 
tion he  has  a  precedent.  Parliament  modelled  the 
Church  of  Ireland  after  the  democratic  apostolic  council 
of  Jerusalem,  and  arranged  all  questions  of  endowment. 
The  Synod  of  that  Communion  consists  of  her  Bishops 
with  208  clerical  and  416  lay  deputies. 

More  illustrious  than  all  his  predecessors  from  Au- 
gustine to  our  century,  that  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Primate  of  all  England,  who  conceives  and  carries 
through  Lords  and  Commons  measures  which  achieve 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Anglican  Church !  He  must 
know  the  genius  and  needs  of  the  British  Empire.  He 
must  think  for  millions  of  our  humanity.  He  must  be 
a  guide  to  the  future  of  Christendom. 

Anglican  Reform  may  lead  to  Greek  Reform,  and 
Latin  Reform,  and  Protestant  Fellowship  in  one  uni- 
versal Church  ;  and  prepare  for  that  final  millenial  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  will  restore  earth  to  a 
Paradise,  brighter  in  immortal  bloom  than  Eden,  and 
where  Christ  shall  be  the  Tree  of  Life  with  an  everlast- 
ing fruitage  of  holiness  and  felicity  and  glory. 


170 


XVI. 


CARDINAL   MANNING 

Since  Luther,  few  men,  more  than  Manning  have 
impressed  their  personality  on  the  future  of  Christen- 
dom. He  may  be  styled  the  father  of  the  Vatican 
Council.  Purcell,  his  biographer,  hints  that  he  kindled 
in  Pio  Nono  a  desire  for  a  declaration  of  Papal  Infalli- 
bility. However  this  may  be,  through  Cardinal  Man- 
ning the  decree  triumphed.  And  now,  in  his  own  let- 
ters and  diaries,  is  pictured  the  man  who  accomplished 
a  work  so  momentous.  The  Cardinal  selected  his  own 
biographer;  expurgated  his  papers,  and  committed  the 
history  of  his  life  to  his  chosen  friend.  In  the  colors  he 
has  himself  painted  we  propose  to  exhibit  his  portrait. 


LIFE  OF  CARDINAL  MANNING: 

Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

By  Edmund  Sheridan   Purcell, 

Member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Roman  Letters. 


Henry  Edward  Manning  was  born  July  15th,  1807. 
His  father  was  an  esteemed  and  prosperous  banker, 
and  a  worthy  member  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
son  at  Harrow  was  not  studious,  and  gave  no  promise 

171 


of  superior  ability.  After  a  struggle  he  entered  Ox- 
ford. While  a  youthful  and  unknown  student  of  Mer- 
ton  College  he  became  a  member  of  the  Union  Debating 
Society.  Graceful  in  person,  with  a  musical  voice  and 
an  oratorical  instinct,  one  brilliant  speech  flashed  him 
into  notoriety.  Xot  logic  or  learning,  but  declamation 
was  his  supreme  gift.  His  biographer  relates  that  after 
his  elocutionary  triumph,  the  youth  acted  as  if  all  eyes 
regarded' him  with  envy  or  admiration.  Jesters  said, 
"Manning  is  self-conscious  even  in  his  night-cap."  Pur- 
cell  adds,  the  feeling  was  "in  the  web  and  woof  of  his 
swaddling  clothes"  and  "unto  the  last"  "clung  to  him 
like  a  garment". 

After  his  successful  Union  oration  Parliament  was 
the  dream  of  Manning.  He  resisted  his  family  who 
urged  him  to  take  orders  in  the  Church.  In  the  House 
of  Commons  he  might  have  shone  with  a  meteoric 
splendor.  Amid  a  state  of  doubt  he  accepted  a  govern- 
ment office.  But  the  eagle  fought  his  cage.  From  his 
struggles  the  ambitious  youth  passed  under  the  influ- 
ence of  an  evangelical  Anglican  lady  :  gave  evidence  of 
conversion  :  decided  to  become  a  clergyman  :  was  elected 
Fellow  of  Merton  :  read  theology  nine  months:  was  or- 
dained Deacon  and  Presbyter:  and  in  1833  went  to 
Lavington  as  curate  to  the  Rev.  John  Sargent,  a  sturdy 
evangelical  Rector.  Here  we  may  remark  that  not  only 
was  his  clerical  training  brief  and  superficial,  but  also 
that  he  never  seems  in  any  part  of  his  career  to  have 
studied  Hebrew,  and  was,  therefore,  always  imperfectly 
equipped  as  a  teacher  and  expounder  of  Scripture. 

The  Curate  married  the  beautiful  daughter  of  his 
Rector.  In  mind  and  person  she  was  a  fascinating 
creature,  and  made  home  a  paradise.  When  her  father 
died  Manning  became  Vicar  of  the  Parish.     Xow  his 

172 


life  was  an  ideal  of  clerical  success  and  happiness. 
Manning  was  a  popular  preacher :  evangelical  in  doc- 
trine :  catholic  in  spirit :  spotless  in  life :  laborious  in 
work :  a  typical  Anglican  :  under  a  cloudless  sky  trav- 
elling in  certitude  the  "via  media",  a  contented  pilgrim 
to  the  celestial  city.  Night  and  storm  came  together 
and  blasted  the  bloom  of  Eden.  We  may  drop  a  tear 
over  Manning.  His  wife  died.  His  home  was  desolate. 
His  bereavement  was  agony.  A  revolution  came  into 
the  life  of  this  obscure  and  flourishing  country  clergy- 
man, unconsciously  training  for  a  master-part  in  a 
drama  whose  stage  would  be  the  world  :  whose  audience 
would  be  humanity :  whose  record  would  make  history  : 
and  behind  whose  curtain  would  be  applause  or  con- 
demnation during  Eternity. 

Now  for  a  few  years  Manning  mingled  freely  and 
equally  with  all  parties  in  the  Church.  He  was  at  once 
High  and  Low.  One  of  his  intimates  was  Archdeacon 
Hare,  a  famous  Evangelical.  His  Parish,  Lavington, 
was  Low  Church.  His  predecessor  and  father-in-law 
had  been  Low  Church.  His  own  ostensible  associations 
were  Low  Church.  Yet  Manning  maintained  private 
friendly  intercourse  with  High  Anglicans  such  as 
Gladstone,  and  even  with  extremist  Tractarians  such  as 
Newman,  Keble  and  Pusey.  Few  suspected  that  this 
brilliant  Evangelical  Parson  hid  in  his  heart  the  seed 
of  a  Roman  tree,  which  would  bud  and  bloom  and  bear 
in  the  garden  of  the  Pope. 

Beneath  his  universal  popularity  and  brilliant  prom- 
ise we  have  a  crucial  test  of  the  man.  Our  human 
metal  must  be  tried  by  fire.  In  1840  Dr.  Shuttleworth, 
Warden  of  New  College.  Oxford,  became  Bishop  of 
Chichester.  He  recoiled  from  Manning,  suspecting 
him  to  be  a  disguised  Romanizer.     But  the  grace  and 

173 


tact  of  the  Rector  overcame  the  prejudice  of  his  Bishop, 
a  rough  warrior  fresh  from  the  battlefields  of  his  uni- 
versity. To  the  amazement  of  himself  and  his  friends 
Manning  was  appointed  by  Shuttleworth  Archdeacon 
of  Chichester.  During  his  Anglican  career  he  never 
rose  higher.  Here  his  star  culminated.  But  he  was 
no  longer  an  obscure  country  parson.  He  blazed  into 
a  species  of  splendor.  As  Archdeacon  he  circulated 
over  the'  diocese :  was  incessant  in  labor :  was  often 
called  to  London :  with  his  classic  face  and  graceful 
person,  in  the  dress  of  his  office,  always  a  conspicuous 
figure.  In  pulpit  and  on  platform  he  developed  into 
an  orator  of  popular  repute.  From  his  office  came  all 
his  influence  in  the  Anglican  Church.  Let  us  see  how 
he  obtained  it ! 

Next  to  Papal  Infallibility  the  Confessional  Box  is 
the  barrier  between  Protestantism  and  Romanism.  Out 
of  an  absolution  by  a  priest  sprang  the  Reformation. 
When  a  penitent  pleads  paid  papal  indulgence  to  sin, 
Luther  declared  the  war  which  divided  Christendom. 
Protestants  recoil  from  committing  to  any  mortal  ear 
the  secrets  of  heart  and  home  through  the  lips  of  a 
mother,  a  wife  or  a  daughter.  In  the  Old  Testament 
no  priest  ever  absolved.  Among  its  ministers,  the  New 
omits  priest.  By  Gospels  and  Epistles,  priest  is  elimi- 
nated as  official,  and  applied  to  each  disciple.  In  all 
the  Bible,  only  Jesus,  Incarnate  Jehovah — and  He  but 
thrice — pronounced  personal  absolution.  "Absolvo  tev 
is  the  prerogative  of  God.  Anglican  Low  Churchmen 
abhorred  confession  and  absolution.  Yet  early  as  1840, 
Manning,  a  Low  Church  clergyman,  in  a  Low  Church 
Parish,  inherited  from  a  Low  Church  Rector,  was 
secretly  playing  priest.  See  the  Rector  of  Lavington ! 
He  has  a  service  at  his  church.     No  bell  rings,  and  no 

174 


congregation  assembles.  On  the  lawn  our  Rector 
passes  some  children  who  follow  to  spy.  Seated  on  an 
arm-chair  they  see  Manning,  and  their  mother  kneeling 
at  his  feet.  With  a  Roman  authority  our  Anglican 
priest  declares  her  absolved.  Did  John  Sargent  from 
Paradise  view  the  spectacle  in  his  Lavington  Church? 
Shattered  her  ideals  of  clerical  honor  by  this  outrage 
on  the  memory  of  her  Protestant  father,  the  young  wife 
must  have  shrunk  from  her  furtive  husband.  And  Bishop 
Shuttleworth !  Had  he  witnessed  the  scene  he  would 
no  more  have  made  Manning  his  Archdeacon  than  he 
would  have  appointed  the  most  rabid  dissenting  minis- 
ter in  his  diocese.  Out  of  concealment  by  Manning 
grew  his  flashing  Anglican  career.  He  was  a  shrewd 
ecclesiastical  politician,  with  a  gift  of  illimitable  self- 
persuasion.  Where  interest  led  his  fancy  painted,  and 
moved  his  will  to  action.  Did  he  foresee  that  eventu- 
ally his  contrarieties  would  be  exposed,  and  blast  his 
ambitious  hopes  ?  Our  human  plummet  cannot  fathom 
such  a  soul.  Its  abysses  God  alone  can  sound.  To  us 
the  Anglican  Manning  resembles  an  equilibrist  balanc- 
ing with  conscious  grace  on  a  masthead,  the  ship  in 
storm,  and  with  any  lurch  liable  to  hurl  from  pinnacle 
to  ocean. 

Sovereignty  of  Parliament  over  the  apostolical  Church 
of  England  was  a  puzzle  which  confused  and  disgusted 
our  now  Confessed  Oxford  Tractarian.  His  dream 
was  the  external  unity  of  Christendom  in  the  Pope. 
The  Headship  of  Christ  and  supremacy  of  Scripture 
belonged  to  his  vanished  past.  But  the  agony  is  over. 
On  June  14th,  1851,  Manning  was  ordained  by  Cardi- 
nal Wiseman.  He  anchors  in  the  Roman  Harbor.  Is 
it  peace  ?  No  !  War !  And  the  convert  is  the  storm- 
center !      Hereditary    Catholics    recoil    from    Anglican 

175 


converts.  Newman  and  Manning,  once  lured  by  visions 
of  papal  unity,  are  estranged  and  embittered.  Their 
friends  create  parties  furiously  hostile.  Bishops  divide 
and  priests  quarrel.  In  battle  Manning  himself  arms 
to  fight  Gallicanism  and  lead  Ultramontism  to  victory. 
Rome  and  London  mingle  in  the  strife.  Storm  enters 
the  Quirinal  to  disturb  the  Pope.  Our  Anglican  (Eolus 
lets  loose  worse  than  Protestant  tempests. 

Returning  to  the  English  clerical  life  of  Manning 
we  find  in  his  position  the  seed  of  his  conversion.  He 
was  the  oracle  of  doubters.  Papalized  Anglicans  asked 
his  counsel.  Purcell  testifies  that,  down  to  October 
15th,  1850,  just  before  his  secession,  "Evangelicals  as 
well  as  Tractarians  sought  his  spiritual  help".  These 
in  glowing  terms  he  pointed  to  the  English  Church. 
Yet  during  years,  in  his  letters  and  diaries,  he  shows 
himself,  not  a  believer,  but  a  skeptic.  His  biographer 
styles  his  public  utterances  his  "Outer  Voice",  and  his 
private  confessions  his  "Inner  Voice".  Between  "Outer 
Voice"  and  "Inner  Voice"  the  contrast  is  amazing.  This 
we  will  exhibit  in  the  words  of  the  speaker  and  writer. 

"Outer  Voice" 

"I  mean  the  Reformation.  It  is  a  very  shallow  and 
imperfect  view  to  regard  this  gracious  act  of  God's 
Providence  towards  his  Church  as  an  isolated  event". 

"The  Reformation  was  a  gracious  and  searching 
work  wrought  by  the  purifying  hand  of  God". 

It  may  be  the  English  Church  "shall  build  again  the 
tabernacle  that  has  fallen  down,  and  purify  the  Catho- 
lic world". 

"At  every  ebb  and  flow  of  religious  life  the  minds  of 
men  have  been  subdued  and  settled  down,  nearer  and 
nearer  to  that  rule  of  faith  which  was  conferred  and 

176 


vindicated    in    the    Anglican    restoration    to    Catholic 
Truth". 

The  English  Church  "is  standing  out  in  bolder  relief 
in  all  the  worldwide  precinct  of  the  British  Empire, — 
loyal  to  her  heavenly  Lord  s-he  shall  be  made  glorious 
in  his  earthly  kingdom  as  the  regenerator  of  Christen- 
dom". 

"Inner  Voice" 

"The  Church  of  England  after  three  hundred  years 
has  failed".  She  is  no  longer  a  member  of  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ :  no  longer  a  witness  to  the  highest 
doctrine  of  Revelation :  no  longer  a  Teacher  under  the 
undoubted  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost",  "diseased  or- 
ganically and  fundamentally",  while  "the  Church  of 
Rome  is  the  heir  of  Infallibility",  and  "satisfies  the 
whole  of  my  intellect,  sympathy,  sentiment  and  na- 
ture". 

And  these  contrarieties  clung  to  trie  Octogenarian. 
In  1890  Newman  died.  The  living  Cardinal  pro- 
nounced an  oration  over  the  departed  Cardinal.  We 
will  compare  the  words  of  the  prelatic  speaker  with 
the  deeds  of  the  prelatic  speaker. 

Manning's  Oration 
"In  what  way  can  I  once  more  show  my  love  and 
veneration  for  a  brother  and  friend  of  more  than  sixty 
years?  I  come  not  to  pronounce  panegyrics.  The 
memories  of  an  affectionate  friendship  put  it  beyond 
my  power.  Such  is  the  beginning  and  close  of  a  friend- 
ship that  can  have  no  end". 

Manning's  Actions 
On   the    14th   of   August,    1867,    Manning   wrote   to 
Newman :     "I  feel  with  you  that  the  root  of  the  diffi- 

177 


culty  is  a  mutual  mistrust".  Purcell  says  "that  Man- 
ning forgot  his  prolonged  opposition  to  Newman  in 
Rome  and  in  England :  forgot  his  avowed  hostility, 
and  distrust :  forgot  that  for  half  a  century  he  had  not 
met  or  spoken  to  Newman  more  that  a  half  dozen 
times".  "The  not  unnatural  desire  of  Manning's  heart 
was  that  his  name  should  go  forth  before  the  world 
linked  with  that  of  Newman's  as  a  lifelong  friend  and 
fellow  worker :  that  he  might,  in  a  sense,  be  a  copartner 
of  Newman's  glory". 

In  1848  Gladstone  had  only  heard  the  "Outer  Voice" 
of  Manning,  who  said :  "In  such  a  communion  with 
death — I  had  absolute  assurance,  in  heart  and  soul, 
that  the  English  Church  is  a  living  portion  of  the 
Church  of  Christ".  When,  soon  after,  the  great  states- 
man heard  the  words  of  the  "Inner  Voice",  and  the 
astounding  news  of  his  secession  to  Rome,  not  strange 
the  exclamation  from  his  Anglican  heart — "Manning 
was  not  simple  and  straightforward".  Newman  wrote 
that  he  did  not  trust  him  when  he  was  an  Anglican. 
He  himself  exclaims,  "Multitudes  almost  think  me  dis- 
honest". We  will  now  see  that  the  moral  blemish  of 
the  Protestant  clergyman  continued  to  taint  the  Catho- 
lic priest,  bishop,  and  cardinal. 

In  the  year  1855,  Dr.  Errington,  at  the  request  of 
Cardinal  Wiseman,  had  been  appointed  his  coadjutor, 
with  right  of  succession,  by  Pio  Nono.  To  increase  his 
episcopal  dignity,  Errington,  Bishop  of  Plymouth,  was 
created  titular  Archbishop  of  Trebizond.  He  was  up- 
right, exact,  meddlesome,  and  a  martinet.  Soon  he 
clashed  with  Wiseman.  Manning  planned  his  removal. 
On  its  lofty  crag  the  nest  of  the  episcopal  eagle  had 
been  made  by  the  pope  himself.  To  dislodge  him  re- 
quired tact,  audacity  and  persistence.     Yet  the  bold  at- 

778 


tempt  was  made  by  a  neophyte,  so  recently  a  Protestant 
glorifier  and  an  Anglican  oracle,  just  from  the  Roman 
Academia,  where  he,  a  mature  and  celebrated  clergy- 
man, had  been  schooling  with  raw  Catholic  youth.  And 
opposition  by  laity,  priests,  bishops,  cardinals,  in  Eng- 
land and  in  Italy,  was  furious,  and  almost  unanimous. 
Despite  all  Manning  brought  down  Errington.  The 
eagle  fluttered  but  he  fell.  Only  a  trained  hunter  could 
have  pierced  his  breast.  In  vain  suffragans  protested : 
chapter  hesitated,  and  propaganda  delayed,  trembled 
and  compromised.  On  the  9th  of  June,  1862,  tran- 
scending all  custom  and  precedent,  Pio  Nono  com- 
manded Dr.  Errington  to  resign  his  right  of  succession 
to  the  diocese  of  Westminster.  The  pontifical  mandate 
was  obeyed. 

Thus  the  path  of  Manning  was  cleared  for  the  Arch- 
bishopric. Cardinal  Wiseman  dies  and  the  episcopal 
throne  is  vacant.  Shall  the  Anglican  convert  sit  there 
mitred  over  Catholic  England?  Obstacles  were  greater 
than  in  the  displacement  of  Errington.  The  cathedral 
chapter  had  to  present  three  names  for  the  recommend- 
ation of  the  Propaganda  to  the  Pope.  Manning  was 
omitted  from  this  tenia.  Dr.  Clifford  was  favored  by 
the  British  government :  by  the  Cardinals  :  by  the  Eng- 
lish Catholics :  by  the  Holy  Father  himself.  In  the  way 
of  the  ambition  of  the  convert  stood  mountains.  He 
levelled  them  all.  No  triumph  of  ecclesiastical  politics 
was  ever  more  signal.  On  the  30th  of  April,  1865,  Pio 
Nono  named  Henry  Edward  'Manning  as  Wiseman's 
successor  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Westminster. 

How  were  such  immense  results  achieved?  Purcell 
reveals  all  the  methods.  These  we  propose  to  pass  in 
review. 

While  an  Anglican  Archdeacon  Manning  had  visited 

179 


Rome  and  been  presented  to  the  Pope.  After  his  con- 
version he  was  presented  to  Wiseman.  Frequently  his 
official  duties  had  brought  him  to  the  pontifical  city, 
where  he  mingled  among  ecclesiastics,  studied  society, 
and  was  acquainted  with  academia,  and  conclave  and 
propaganda.  He  held  the  key  to  the  Roman  capital, 
and  the  character  of  Pio  Nono.  Equipped  thus  he  made 
no  false  moves  on  the  ecclesiastical  chess-board.  His 
supreme  advantage  was  intimacy  with  Mgr.  Talbot, 
an  Anglican  convert,  and  chamberlain  and  friend  of  the 
Holy  Father.  Purcell  has  published  their  confidential 
letters.  Between  them  there  was,  perhaps,  no  oral  or 
written  covenant.  But  their  epistles  show  a  secret  and 
perfect  understanding.  On  the  day  after  his  appoint- 
ment Archbishop  Manning  wrote  to  Talbot:  "I  have 
now  one  great  desire,  to  see  you  in  the  place  of  power 
and  usefulness — to  which  your  career  leads  you".  This 
surely  hints  the  papacy.  Talbot  was  already  cardinal. 
One  step  higher  was  the  chair  of  Peter.  Knowing 
these  ecclesiastics  as  revealed  in  their  letters  we  infer 
the  bargain  was — "Help  me  to  the  pallium  and  I  will 
help  you  to  the  tiara".  However  this  may  be,  they  gave 
each  other  effectual  aid.  When  the  London  letters  were 
not  presented  to  the  pontifical  eye,  they  passed  into  the 
pontifical  ear  modulated  by  the  chamberlain's  tongue. 
One  letter  reveals  a  most  subtle  art.  It  takes  us  into 
the  heart  and  skill  of  the  writer.  By  it  we  see  how  the 
chamberlain  moulded  the  pope.  From  the  Vatican  Tal- 
bot informs  Manning  of  his  wily  methods.  "My  policy 
throughout  was  never  to  propose  you  directly  to  the 
Pope,  but  to  make  others  do  so,  so  that  both  you  and  I 
always  can  say  that  it  was  not  I  who  induced  the  Holy 
Father  to  name  you,  which  would  lessen  the  weight  of 
your  appointment.     This  I  say  because  many  have  said 

180 


that  your  being  named  was  all  my  doing.  I  do  not  say 
to  the  Pope  that  I  thought  you  the  only  man  eligible  : 
as  I  took  care  to  tell  him  over  and  over  again  what  was 
against  all  other  candidates,  and  in  consequence  he  was 
almost  driven  into  naming  you.  After  he  had  named 
you  the  Holy  Father  said  to  me — 'What  a  diplomat  you 
are  to  make  what  you  wished  come  to  pass !'  " 

Having  swept  all  the  opposing  pieces  from  the  pon- 
tifical chess-board,  without  naming  Manning,  thus  Tal- 
bot secured  victory  for  his  confederate,  crowned  him 
with  an  archepiscopal  mitre,  and  dignified  him  with  the 
papal  pallium.  In  reading  the  correspondence  there  is 
a  painful  impression  that  human  artifice  could  be  car- 
ried no  further,  and  that  the  depths  of  the  abysses  of 
pious  self-deception  have  been  reached.  Talbot  was  the 
glass,  colored  by  Manning,  through  which  Pio  Nono 
was  made  to  see  the  ecclesiastical  landscape.  An  infal- 
lible pope  became  a  mere  ceramic  figure  in  the  hands  of 
his  manipulators. 

But  all  the  victories  of  Cardinal  Manning  were  as 
cloud  to  sun  compared  with  the  effulgence  of  his  tri- 
umph over  the  Vatican  Council.  No  ecclesiastical  poli- 
tician ever  achieved  such  success  against  obstacles 
seemingly  insuperable. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1868,  Pio  Nono  issued  the 
Bull  of  Indiction.  Schemata  were  prepared  and  com- 
mittees selected.  The  work  was  enormous.  November 
8th,  1869,  saw  the  Council  assembled.  A  roar  of  artil- 
lery from  St.  Angelo  announced  the  opening.  Each 
church  in  Rome  pealed  its  bell.  Music  bursts  from  the 
doors  of  St.  Peter's  and  rises  into  the  sublime  dome.  A 
world  holds  its  breath.  Notwithstanding  the  energetic, 
and  complicated  and  magnificent  preparations  the  as- 
sembled   prelates    were    indifferent    to    a    declaration. 

181 


Manning  says,  "After  a  long  discussion  there  were  at 
last  only  two  bishops,  I  and  another,  who  persisted  in 
presenting  petitions  for  the  definition".  A  mountain  of 
immobility  rose  before  the  English  Archbishop.  While 
the  majority  was  slumberous  a  powerful  minority  was 
awake.  The  giants  of  the  Council  fought  Infallibility. 
All  the  governments  of  Europe  were  against  it.  The 
venerated  Newman  was  against  it.  Most  distinguished 
of  Catholic  laymen,  Lord  Acton  was  against  it.  First 
among  Catholic  nobles,  Prince  Hohenlohe  was  against 
it.  His  brilliant  brother  the  Cardinal  was  against  it. 
The  learning  and  ability  and  eloquence  of  the  Council 
were  against  it.  Even  the  noble  dames  of  Rome 
were  against  it.  The  obstacles  before  Manning 
appeared  invincible.  He  overcame  them  all.  Grace- 
ful and  persuasive,  he  was  also  ubiquitous.  The 
salons  of  the  ladies  resembled  the  lobbies  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  English  whips  were  out- 
cracked  by  the  Roman.  Manning  became  a  conspicuous 
social  orator.  He  pleased  the  noble  women :  convinced 
the  opportunist :  inspired  the  indolent :  battled  enemies : 
multiplied  friends,  and  each  day  won  victories.  He  was 
the  genius  of  persuasion.  He  was  the  hero  of  the  hour. 
And  his  political  shrewdness  equalled  his  conquering 
eloquence.  From  Pio  Nono  Manning  obtained  release 
from  his  oath  and  was  thus  permitted  to  divulge  the 
secrets  of  the  Vatican  Council.  In  the  rush  committing 
Catholicism  to  papal  infallibility,  a  human  power  sus- 
pends a  divine  obligation.  As  an  ecclesiastic  the  Pontiff 
declares  that  right  which  as  a  man  he  would  pronounce 
wrong.  Fallible  in  morals,  he  can  not  be  infallible  in 
faith. 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  the  Council  as  revealed  by 
Purcell  is  more  wonderful  than  its  relations  to  the  Brit- 

182 


ish  Government.  Odo  Russell  was  its  representative  at 
the  Vatican.  Him  Manning  cultivates.  Constantly  the 
pair  walk  and  talk  together  exchanging  confidences. 
They  formed  a  whispering  gallery  between  Rome  and 
London.  From  the  transept  of  St.  Peter's,  oath-guarded 
transactions  were  reported  to  Lord  Clarendon,  British 
Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs.  What  the  prelates  de- 
bated in  supposed  sworn  secrecy  in  the  Latin  tongue 
and  in  a  Catholic  Council,  was  translated  into  English 
speech,  and,  through  a  Pope,  and  an  Archbishop,  trans- 
mitted to  a  Protestant  Government. 

It  will  now  be  interesting  to  compare  the  arguments 
urged  in  the  Vatican  Council. 

In  two  verses  of  Scripture  rests  the  whole  papal  claim 
to  supremacy  and  infallibility.  Catholics  and  Protest- 
ants divide  in  their  interpretation.  The  wall  between 
them  is  a  Biblical  Exegesis.  And  Rome  encounters 
obstacles  not  only  in  Scripture,  but  in  History.  Her 
claim  is  disturbed  by  the  enormities  of  her  pontiffs. 
The  lives  of  these  are  stained  with  vices  and  crimes 
black  and  red  as  those  of  Nero,  Caligula  and  Domitian. 
Stephen  II.  was  a  forger.  Nicholas  I.  accepted  the 
false  decretals.  Hildebrand  was  a  merciless  monk. 
Innocent  III.  let  loose  war  on  Provence,  and  excom- 
municated each  signer  of  Magna  Charta.  The  Boy- 
Popes  were  loathsome  monsters  of  iniquity.  Celestin 
V.  was  a  filthy,  and  semibarbarous  anchorite,  a  dupe 
of  scoundrels,  and  resigned  his  pontificate  on  the  ground 
of  his  imbecility.  Clement  V.  made  Avignon  a  moral 
plague-spot.  Benedict  XIII.  and  Gregory  XII.  in  mad 
hate,  consigned  each  other  to  everlasting  flames.  John 
XXIII.  was  deposed  for  his  crimes  by  the  Council 
which  burned  Huss  and  Jerome.  Alexander  VI.,  who 
crucified  Savanorola,  was  a  libidinous  assassin  and  rob- 

183 


ber,  who  polluted  the  Vatican  with  his  orgies.  Urban 
VIII.  wrecked  Galileo,  after  forcing  him  to  swear  to 
a  falsehood.  Gregory  XIII.  applauded  the  massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew,  immortalized  it  in  a  painting,  com- 
memorated it  in  a  medal,  and  glorified  it  in  a  festival. 
While  Protestants  deny  the  Catholic  interpretation 
of  Scripture  on  which  is  based  the  claim  of  pontifical 
sovereignty  and  infallibility,  they  also  find  it  impossible 
to  believe  that  papal  monsters  can  be  endowed  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  as  the  sole  unerring  guides  to  Salvation. 
These  differences  we  will  not  now  discuss.  We  will 
simply  exhibit  the  Protestant  view  as  lucidly  and  pow- 
erfully and  eloquently  vindicated  within  the  Vatican 
Council.  Manning  had  the  gift  of  tongue.  He  poured 
forth,  at  will,  oil,  or  honey.  He  painted  pictures  of 
social  ruin.  He  showed  that  wars,  revolutions,  gov- 
ernments might  prevent  an  ecumenical  council,  and 
that  expediency  demanded  sovereignty  and  infallibility 
in  the  pope.  By  nature  a  fluent  orator,  he  was  deficient 
in  learning,  and  incapable  of  argument.  But  while  he 
indulged  his  imagination,  there  were  prelates  dis- 
tinguished both  for  erudition  and  eloquence.  Beneath 
the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  thundered  speeches,  with  all 
the  fire  and  power  of  the  Reformation,  and  which  would 
have  transfigured  Luther  and  caused  even  Calvin  to 
smile.  They  will  live  in  history  when  the  Vatican  De- 
cree will  be  a  humiliating  memory.  If  the  fathers  of 
the  Council  were  not  convinced,  they  were  surely 
astounded  to  hear  Protestantism  defended  in  that  cathe- 
dral, which  for  all  the  world  is  the  center  and  glory  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  We  will  quote  the  ad- 
dresses of  two  of  these  prelates,  and  then  add,  in  con- 
trast, the  views  of  Manning  as  expressed  by  his  biog- 
rapher. 

J84 


Bishop  Strossmayer 
"If  Simon,  son  of  Jona,  was  what  we  believe  his 
Holiness,  Pius  IX.,  to  be  to-day,  it  is  wonderful  He 
had  not  said  to  him,  'When  I  have  ascended  to  my 
Father  you  shall  obey  Simon  Peter  as  you  obey  Me. 
I  establish  him  my  Vicar  on  earth'.  Certainly  if  He  had 
wished  that  it  would  be  so.  Pie  would  have  said  it. 
What  do  we  conclude  from  his  silence?  Logic  tells  us 
that  Christ  did  not  wish  to  make  St.  Peter  head  of  the 
apostolic  community.  Permit  me  to  repeat  it!  If  He 
had  wished  to  constitute  Peter  his  Vicar,  Pie  would 
have  given  him  chief  command  of  his  spiritual  army. 
The  Apostle  Paul  makes  no  mention  in  any  of  his  let- 
ters, directed  to  the  various  churches,  of  the  Primacy 
of  Peter.  If  this  primacy  had  existed  he  would  have 
written  a  long  letter  on  this  all-important  subject. 
Neither  in  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  St.  John,  or  St. 
James  have  I  found  a  trace  or  germ  of  the  papal  power. 
I  have  sought  for  a  pope  in  the  first  four  centuries  and 
I  have  not  found  him". 

Bishop  Dupanloup 
"Pope  Victor  first  approved  of  Montanism,  and  then 
condemned  it.  Marcellinus  was  an  idolater.  Liberius 
consented  to  the  condemnation  of  Athanasius,  and  made 
a  profession  of  Arianism  that  he  might  be  recalled  from 
exile  and  restored  to  his  see.  Honorius  adhered  to 
Monothelitism.  Gregory  I.  calls  any  one  Antichrist  who 
takes  the  name  of  universal  bishop,  and  contrariwise. 
Boniface  VIII.  made  the  parricide  Emperor  Phocas 
confer  that  title  upon  him.  Vigilius  purchased  the 
papacy  from  Belisarius.  Paschal  II.  and  Eugenius 
III.  authorized  duelling.  Julius  II.  and  Pius  IV.  for- 
bade it.     Eugenius  IV.  approved  the  Council  of  Basle, 

185 


and  the  restitution  of  the  cup  to  the  Church  of  Bohe- 
mia. Pius  II.  revoked  the  concession.  Hadrian  II. 
declared  civil  marriages  to  be  valid.  Pius  VII.  con- 
demned them.  Sixtus  V.  published  an  edition  of  the 
Bible  and  commanded  it  to  be  read.  Pius  VII.  con- 
demned the  reading  of  it.  Clement  VII.  abolished  the 
Order  of  Jesuits,  permitted  by  Paul  III.  Pius  VII.  re- 
established it.  If  then  you  proclaim  the  infallibility  of 
the  actual  pope,  you  must  prove  that  which  is  impos- 
sible— that  the  popes  never  contradicted  each  other. 
Baronius  must  have  blushed  when  he  narrated  the  acts 
of  the  Roman  bishops.  Speaking  of  John  XL,  natural 
son  of  Pope  Sergius  and  Marozzia,  he  said,  the  Holy 
Church,  that  is  the  Roman,  has  been  vilely  trampled 
on  by  such  a  monster.  John  XII.,  elected  pope  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  was  not  one  bit  better  than  his  prede- 
cessor. I  am  silent  of  Alexander,  father  and  lover  of 
Lucretia.  I  turn  away  from  John  XXIII. ,  who  denied 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  was  deposed  by  the 
Ecumenical  Council  of  Constance.  This  century  is 
unfortunate,  as  for  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
the  popes  had  fallen  from  all  the  virtues  of  their  pre- 
decessors, and  have  become  apostates  rather  than 
apostles". 

As  described  by  his  Biographer 
Archbishop  Manning 
"His  grace  of  manner,  his  earnest  and  persuasive 
words,  his  absolute  and  thorough  belief  in  the  necessity 
of  the  Definition,  added  weight  to  his  words.  By  nat- 
ural bent,  as  by  policy,  he  avoided  argumentation,  and 
its  pugnacity.  He  relied  on  clear  and  concise  statement 
of  his  case.  He  dwelt  on  the  terrible  responsibility  of 
leaving  so  vital  a  question  as  the  infallible  authoritv  of 
the  Pope  unsettled.     He  drew  pictures  of  evil  days  to 

1 86 


come  :  of  terrors  which  threatened  society :  of  revolu- 
tion going  down  to  the  roots  of  things,  which  made  the 
hair  of  others  beside  the  theologian  of  the  Bishop  of 
Mayence  stand  on  end.  It  was  said  at  the  time  of  the 
Council,  half  in  jest,  that  there  'is  no  better  hand  than 
Manning's  in  drawing  the  long  bow'.  It  may  be  said 
with  greater  truth  that  he  was  a  past-master  of  the  art 
of  persuasion — the  Prince  of  Diplomatists.  Nature,  it 
would  almost  seem,  had  intended  Manning  for  a  Par- 
liamentary Whip;  but  accident,  or  rather  the  Will  of 
God,  had  made  him  Bishop  and  a  Father  in  the  Vatican 
Council". 

In  this  sketch  we  see  the  argument  which  was  the 
last  rivet  in  the  chain  that  the  Archbishop,  soon  a  Car- 
dinal, bound  around  the  Papal  Hierarchy.  On  Monday, 
the  18th  of  July,  1870,  he  triumphed  in  the  passage  of 
the  decree  almost  unanimously.  Before  the  final  vote 
opposers  fled.  It  was  proclaimed  :  I.  That  the  Pope 
was  Supreme  Pastor  of  Christendom.  II.  That  the 
Pope  was  Infallible  in  all  decisions  of  Faith  and  Morals. 
III.  That  all  who  do  not  accept  this  belief  in  the  Pope 
are  Anathema.  What  means  this  fearful  word?  Than  it 
the  Greek  language  furnishes  not  one  more  terrific.  It 
signifies  accursed  from  God  and  damned  forever. 

Heaven  and  Earth  seemed  stirred  against  the  Vatican 
Decree.  It  was  delivered  amid  a  glare  of  lightnings. 
St.  Peter's  shook  with  thunders.  Quick  dazzling  flashes 
illuminated  a  midnight  gloom,  which,  from  vault  to 
dome,  filled  the  vast  cathedral.  Then  what  a  rush  of 
events !  Revolutions  in  Church  and  State  more  impress- 
ive than  physical  phenomena !  Napoleon  captured  in 
battle  and  his  dynasty  wrecked !  The  pontifical  city 
seized  by  its  enemies !  Pio  Nono  on  his  knees  climbing 
the  Lateran  Stairs,  and  flying  from  the  Quirinal  to  pine 
in  the  Vatican !    A  united  Italy !   An  imperial  Germany ! 

187 


A  republican  France !  The  map  of  Europe  changed ! 
A  new  era  for  Christendom  !  And  old  England  !  Prot- 
estant as  ever !  The  pope  can  no  more  recover  her  than 
he  can  roll  over  her  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

In  our  own  Republic  heaviest  the  millstone  Manning 
hung  upon  the  Papacy.  All  know  the  amiable  disposi- 
tion and  courteous  address  of  our  American  Cardinal. 
We  could  have  no  more  pleasing  and  popular  repre- 
sentative of  the  Holy  Father  and  his  Vatican  Decree. 
But  a  mountain  has  been  placed  in  the  way  of  the 
Roman  conquest  of  our  country.  Battle  is  harder  than 
manipulations  of  history.  Our  Cardinal  meets  our 
President !  How  cordial  the  grasp  of  hands !  What 
smiles  beam !  Yet  how  has  Manning's  triumph  in  the 
Vatican  Council  embarrassed  the  relations  of  two  excel- 
lent and  estimable  men  !  The  President  is  loved  by  the 
Cardinal  and  cursed  by  the  Cardinal.  For  the  creed  of 
the  Cardinal  damns  members  of  the  family  of  our  Chief 
Magistrate :  damns  members  of  his  Cabinet,  members 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  members  of  Congress :  damns 
eighty  millions  of  American  citizens.  Crossing  the 
Atlantic  it  damns  the  English  King  and  his  Protestant 
Empire :  damns  the  German  Kaiser  and  his  Lutheran 
Christians  :  damns  the  Russian  Czar  and  his  Greek  peo- 
ples. Leaving  Europe.  -Asia  and  Africa  feel  its  blasting 
breath.  Outside  the  Catholic  Church  on  our  humanity 
it  writes  its  doom.  It  makes  the  Pope  the  sole  door  to 
Christ.  Deny  the  Pope  and  you  are  excluded  by  Christ. 
The  Pope  is  placed  on  the  throne  of  Christ.  Pope  ok 
Anathema  seems  the  Vatican  Creed.  You  may  be 
saintly  and  orthodox  as  Pius  X.,  yet  rejecting  his  pas- 
toral sovereignty  and  papal  infallibility,  you  are  ac- 
cursed by  a  Communion  whose  head  was  once  a  Borgia. 
Such  an  Evangel  will  never  convert  America  and  con- 
quer our  world. 

188 


XVII. 


BISHOP    POTTER 


All  Americans  glow  when  they  behold,  in  promise., 
the  majestic  proportions  of  our  Metropolitan  Cathedral. 
It  is  slowly  rising  in  its  pillared  grandeur.  Xor  is  it  a 
medieval  creation  built  for  pageant.  Before  it  beams  a 
brighter  vision.  Down  through  the  ages  may  it  stand 
a  witness  for  a  Gospel  of  Salvation !  May  it  be  a  meet- 
ing place  for  Christendom  when  its  superstitions  have 
been  swept  away  :  its  idolatries  abolished  :  its  wounds 
healed :  its  schisms  ended :  its  compromises  adjusted, 
and  Greek  and  Latin  and  Anglican  and  Protestant 
gather  from  all  lands  to  represent  a  United  Church! 
May  its  chapels  be  resonant  with  the  languages  of  na- 
tions from  the  ends  of  the  earth !  May  it  be  a  temple 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  when  our  country  shall  be  baptized 
in  a  second  Pentecost !  Among  men  and  angels  may  its 
episcopal  founder  be  honored  forever !  We  hope  that 
the  towers  of  St.  John's  the  Divine  will  brighten  in  the 
morning  rays  of  the  millenial  glory. 

There  is  an  edifice  nobler  and  more  enduring  than 
our  terrestrial  cathedral.  Its  architect  is  Almighty 
God.  Its  plan  is  an  eternal  predestination.  Its  founda- 
tion is  Holy  Scripture  as  a  revelation  of  salvation  re- 
corded by  inspired  prophets  and  apostles.     Its  walls  are 

189 


of  stones  more  precious  than  gems,  and  its  gates  are 
watched  by  angels.  Its  altar  is  sprinkled  with  the  blood 
of  Incarnate  Godhead.  Its  illuminator  is  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Its  immortal  citizens  pass  from  earth  to  para- 
dise to  be  glorified  in  resurrection,  justified  in  judgment, 
and  beatified  in  the  everlasting  image  of  their  Divine 
Savior. 

This  spiritual  temple  which  defies  time  and  satan  has 
to  be  guarded  more  carefully  than  our  splendid  cathe- 
dral. May  we  compare  a  house  of  salvation  with  a 
modern  structure  towering  over  our  metropolis  ?  In 
this  latter  the  smallest  parts  are  essential.  Destroy  one 
and  you  dislocate  all.  Also  in  the  tabernacle,  pin  was 
as  necessary  as  pillar.  One  stone  displaced  in  a  temple- 
column  might  make  it  insecure  or  unsightly.  Rusted  by 
age  or  twisted  by  fire,  the  screws  and  bolts  of  our  sky- 
piercers  may  bring  five  hundred  feet  of  iron  and  stone 
crashing  down  in  illimitable  ruin. 

A  Bishop  is  the  shepherd  of  his  flock.  He  must  give 
his  life  to  rescue  the  lost  lamb  from  the  wolf.  Other- 
wise, our  Lord  denounces  him  as  a  hireling.  While 
our  episcopal  father  is  building  his  cathedral,  in  his  care 
for  beauty  and  grandeur,  he  must  not  overlook  his  most 
obscure  Rector  scattering  those  small  seeds  of  heresy 
which  produce  immeasurable  and  everlasting  harvests 
of  destruction.  The  air  of  the  church  is  filled  with  skep- 
tical poison.  As  microbes  to  the  body  so  is  error  to  the 
soul.  Science  may  heal  the  flesh.  It  has  neither  knife 
or  medicine  to  save  the  spirit.  Our  Bishop  will,  there- 
fore pardon  us  if  we  call  his  attention  to  the  utterances 
of  his  clergymen,  and  an  unguarded  expression  from 
his  own  episcopal  pen. 


190 


First  Clergyman 
Sever  one  cable  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  and  catas- 
trophe is  inevitable.  What  a  crime,  if  in  the  blaze  of 
clay,  the  murderous  file  did  its  work  in  view  of  the 
officer  sworn  and  paid  to  guard  the  structure!  This 
man  is  responsible  when  collapse  plunges  multitudes 
into  the  devouring  river.  Between  time  and  eternity 
our  Lord  has  built  a  Bridge  of  Salvation.  His  passen- 
gers are  pilgrims  to  Everlasting  Life.  On  their  way 
one  pillar  secures  his  people.  His  Resurrection !  This 
the  Bible  makes  its  supreme  support,  which  distin- 
guishes it  from  human  philosophy.  From  Boodh,  from 
Confucius,  from  Zoroaster,  from  Socrates,  from  Swe- 
denburgh,  what  separates  Jesus?  He  rose  from  the 
dead.  Hence  his  authority  to  remit  sin  and  bestow  sal- 
vation. He  was  an  impostor  if  the  cross  sent  Him  *o 
corruption  in  the  tomb.  The  nail,  the  thorn,  the  taunt 
of  the  Jew,  were  justified.  On  his  Resurrection  Jesus 
rested  his  claim  as  God-Redeemer.  Life  is  a  fact  visible, 
audible,  palpable,  and  provable  only  by  witnesses.  When 
our  first  clergyman  preached  that  Jesus  came  from  his 
tomb  a  spirit  he  threw  away  the  whole  evidential  proof 
of  Scripture.  As  of  spirit  we  know  nothing,  we  can 
testify  nothing.  Unseen,  unheard,  untouched,  a  spirit 
can  not  be  witnessed  by  bodily  organs  whose  subjects 
are  matter.  Our  clergyman  falsified  his  Lord,  who 
showed  his  disciples  He  was  not  a  spirit:  He  said — 
I  see!  I  hear!  I  walk!  I  talk!  Handle  Me!  I  eat 
and  I  drink !  To  these  plain  facts  testified  the  apostles 
of  their  risen  Master.  Their  writings  prove  their  verac- 
ity as  witnesses.  Behind  them  is  the  prophetic  word  of 
the  Immaculate  Christ  no  Hypercritic  dares  charge  with 
falsehood.  Easter  is  a  universal  festival  to  impress 
Resurrection.     When  on  that  feast  of  faith  and  hope 

J9i 


and  joy  an  Episcopal  minister  asserts  Jesus  never  rose 
in  the  flesh,  he  denies  his  Lord  :  contradicts  his  Bible : 
betrays  his  article :  condemns  himself  when  he  reads 
creed  and  collect  and  lesson,  and  before  his  people 
stands  a  pitiable  spectacle  of  moral  and  intellectual 
infirmity. 

Second  Clergyman 

"It  was  apparently  this  gift  of  tongue  with  which  the 
disciples  were  endowed  at  Pentecost,  and  they  spoke, 
therefore,  not  in  a  foreign  language,  but  in  the  ecstatic, 
frenzied,  unintelligible  speech  of  which  Paul  tells  us  in 
his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians'!. 

These  words  were  published  before  the  ordination  of 
the  writer  by  the  Bishop  of  New  York.  Let  us  see  what 
they  mean ! 

The  gift  of  the  Spirit  was  an  Old  Testament  proph- 
ecy. John  the  Baptist  renewed  the  promise.  Jesus  com- 
mands his  disciples  to  tarry  for  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Preparations  of  ages  center  in  Jerusalem.  All 
the  past  of  Israel  converges  to  Pentecost.  It  is  the 
birth  day  of  the  Christian  Church.  From  every  nation 
Jews  fill  Jerusalem.  Their  tents  whiten  the  mountain, 
and  their  temple  glitters  in  its  glory.  Ages  have  pre- 
pared the  soil,  and  now  the  seed,  vitalized  by  the  prom- 
ised and  prophesied  Spirit,  will  grow  into  a  tree  which 
will  shade  and  feed  a  world.  One  hundred  and  twenty 
Galileans  meet  for  prayer.  A  tempest  roar !  Tongues 
of  flame !  Converting  power  of  faith  and  hope  and 
love !  Foreign  Jews  hear  the  Gentile  language  amid 
which  they  were  born !  Convinced  by  the  familiar 
speech  they  believe :  they  are  baptized :  they  disperse 
from  Pentecost,  and  preach  over  earth  in  the  tongues 
of  the  heathen  the  Salvation  of  the  Lord.     Sublime  the 

192 


scene !  Infinite  the  wisdom  !  Triumphant  the  result ! 
Yet  this  clergyman  makes  Pentecost  a  jabber.  He  con- 
tradicts his  Bible.  He  insults  his  Church.  He  attri- 
butes frenzied,  unintelligible,  idiotic  jargon  to  the  apos- 
tles of  our  crucified  and  glorified  Lord — to  men  by  Him 
chosen  and  trained  :  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who 
have  made  Pentecost  a  festival  forever  of  light  and  joy 
and  victory.  As  one  minister  would  turn  Easter  to 
falsehood,  the  other  would  convert  Whitsunday  to  farce. 
The  end  a  doubted  and  discarded  Trinity ! 

Third  Clergyman 

Pantheism  is  the  root  of  all  infidelity.  It  is  the  eter- 
nal foe  to  the  Bible.  It  sums  in  itself  every  possible 
form  of  unbelief.  It  denies  the  personality  of  God  and 
man,  and  hence  that  relation  of  creatorship  on  which 
depend  human  responsibility  and  redemption.  In  the 
book  of  our  clergyman  it  is  more  gross  than  in  India, 
or  Egypt,  or  Greece.  He  distances  Boodh  and  Hermes 
and  Plato.  Matter,  including  God  and  man,  is  his  uni- 
verse. We  quote  his  words : — "No  living  personality 
apart  from  material  organism".  Disembodied  spirit  is 
unthinkable".  "Matter  is  eternal".  "Soul  is  a  conven- 
ient word  to  designate  the  complex  sum  total  of  the 
final  and  highest  output  of  the  organized  body".  "We 
can  not  think  of  God  apart  from  the  thought  of  the 
universe.  When  He  thinks  and  feels  and  wills  the 
whole  universe  is  involved  both  as  subject  and  object". 

Here  our  Doctor  teaches  that  God  is  matter :  each 
soul  of  man  is  matter :  the  episcopal  soul  is  matter  and 
the  clerical  soul  is  matter ;  in  the  pulpit  matter  preaches 
to  matter  in  the  pew :  matter  tells  matter  to  reason  and 
repent  and  believe  and  obey :  in  creed  and  gloria  and 


193 

J3 


litany  and  benediction  the  matter  which  reads  the  Prayer 
Book  worships  the  matter  in  the  Trinity. 

Our  bicycling  Doctor  is  wheeling  towards  Nirvana, 
without  the  tedious  transmigrations  of  Boodh.  On  the 
edge  of  the  abyss  of  nothingness  he  recoils.  How  shall 
he  escape  nonentity?  Scripture  fails,  but  Science  de- 
livers. Her  X-rays  displace  the  Holy  Ghost.  Working 
with  goodness,  Roentgen's  invisible  ether  builds  new 
brain  tissues  into  improved  human  personalities.  Pro- 
duct !  Immortability !  Not  Bible  immortality !  That 
is  everlasting!  But  sin  in  Heaven,  says  our  Doctor, 
may  end  his  Immortability.  Dread  of  loss  then  mars  its 
bliss.  Hence  in  pantheistic  paradise  the  fire  and  worm 
of  hell.  A  dream  the  "glory  everlasting"  of  the  sublim- 
est  anthem  of  Christendom !  To  torment  saints  and 
angels  may  be  hurled  from  Heaven!  Such  has  been 
teaching  in  our  Metropolitan  Diocese! 

Fourth  Clergyman 
Abraham  a  myth !  So  said  our  Doctor !  What  says 
Jehovah?  What  say  prophets?  What  says  Paul? 
What  say  Mishna  and  Gemara  and  Targum?  What 
says  Josephus  ?  What  say  the  Rabbis  of  Israel  ?  What 
says  the  Universal  Church?  All  the  reverse  of  our 
Doctor !  With  our  Lord  Abraham  is  a  fact !  Always 
in  the  Bible  he  is  a  majestic  personality !  Father  of  the 
Hebrews !  Beginner  of  circumcision !  Covenanting 
with  the  Almighty !  An  example  of  faith  !  A  model  of 
obedience !  A  type  of  Paradise !  The  glory  of  Israel 
and  the  inspiration  of  Christendom !  We  have  two 
genealogies  of  our  Lord.  One  beginning  with  Abra- 
ham, down  through  David  and  Solomon,  traces  the  de- 
scent of  Jesus  to  Joseph,  his  legal  and  reputed  father. 
The  other  beginning  with  Joseph,  the  legal  and  reputed 


194 


son  of  the  father  of  Mary,  traces  her  genealogy,  as  the 
mother  of  our  Lord,  through  Nathan  and  Daniel  up  to 
Adam.  With  Jews  genealogies  are  sacred.  Both 
Evangelists  write  in  historic  style.  To  make  their  rec- 
ords myth  is  to  give  them  the  lie.  It  stamps  on  the 
Bible  falsehood.  It  is  a  blow  at  all  those  proofs  which 
pillar  Scripture  as  a  revelation  of  salvation.  It  bewild- 
ers weak  men  in  the  hypercritic  mist  that  befogs  our 
Doctor. 

Fifth  Clergyman 

In  his  pulpit,  this  Preacher,  with  no  hint  of  proof, 
affirmed  that  Moses  wrote  no  book  of  the  Pentateuch, 
nor  David  one  Psalm.  Septuagint !  Targum !  Tal- 
mud !  Tradition !  Rabbis !  Josephus !  The  testimony 
of  Israel !  The  voice  of  History !  All  external  proofs 
nothing!  Our  Lord  ignorant  and  his  apostles  mis- 
taken !  In  his  lecture-room  our  Doctor  names  Moses 
with  irreverent  familiarity.  By  a  common  occidental 
phrase  he  makes  ridiculous  the  oriental  majesty  of  the 
sublime  Poet :  the  illuminated  Prophet :  the  inspired 
Lawgiver;  commissioned  by  the  word  and  armed  with 
the  might  of  Jehovah :  Smiter  of  Egypt  and  Savior  of 
Israel :  on  the  mountain  taught  in  a  glory  glowing  in  his 
face  with  a  divine  splendor:  quoted  in  the  Temptation 
and  witness  of  the  Transfiguration,  and  united  with  the 
Lamb  in  the  new  song  of  Heaven. 

How  far  the  Bishop  sympathized  with  the  opinions 
exposed  has  been  a  speculation.  His  Diocese  will  be 
no  longer  in  suspense.  The  veil  has  been  lifted  by  him- 
self. By  a  sweeping  declaration  he  has  placed  himself, 
not  by  the  side,  but  at  the  head  of  his  hypercritic  clergy- 
men, who  will  be  swift  to  ctaim  an  episcopal  leader  for 
their  International  Enterprise.     He  has  deliberately  and 


195 


publicly  endorsed  a  sermon  affirming  that  the  opening 
chapters  of  Genesis  are  Myths.  One  sentence  indicates 
that  he  has  been  converted  to  Darwinism.,  Here  the 
Bishop  can  not  stop.  He  will  be  borne  onward  by  a 
resistless  current.  The  end  of  his  Mythism  he  may 
read  in  the  last  work  of  a  Gottingen  Professor.  Dr. 
Bousset  teaches  that  Christianity  is  an  evolution  from 
man.  Scripture  claims  to  be  a  Revelation  from  God. 
These  views  are  eternal  contradictions.  Hypercriti- 
cism  can  never  root  itself  in  the  Episcopal  Church.  Our 
Prayer  Book  is  its  perpetual  rebuke.  It  means  ultimate 
and  inevitable  schism.  Let  us  beware!  Professor 
Bousset  warns  us !  His  book  shows  that  Hypercriti- 
cism  is  a  seed  whose  fruit  is  Infidelity. 

I  walk  through  the  Metropolitan  Museum.  Around 
me  is  a  ghastly  spectacle  of  bones  and  shells  and  skele- 
tons. All  belong  to  a  dim  past.  Cycles  since  myriads 
of  strange  creatures  lived  and  died.  Examine  these 
fossils !  Widely  as  in  our  own  age  species  are  separated 
from  species  and  genera  from  genera.  How  wise  the 
eternal  barrier !  Commingling  animal  races  would  pro- 
duce monstrous  hybrid  forms  and  deface  and  defeat 
creation.  Hence  Science  has  been  baffled  in  every 
attempt  to  vitalize  matter  and  intermix  species.  AH 
the  facts  of  the  past  cycles  of  the  earth  are  against 
Darwinism.  Induction  must  consider  such  proof  invin- 
cible. Now  add  the  protoplasm  of  one  Scientist  to  the 
assumption  of  the  other!  This  original  of  all  is  con- 
ceded as  resembling  jelly  fish.,  From  this  feeble,  help- 
less, insignificant  creature  a  self-evolved  universe  of 
souls  and  suns  and  systems  contrived  with  a  wisdom 
and  upheld  by  an  omnipotence  beyond  our  human  com- 
prehension!  Such  is  the  triumph  of  a  Science  without 
induction,  and  which  substitutes   fancy   for  fact!     An 

196 


infinitesimal  cause  producing  an  infinite  effect !  Proto- 
plasm evolving  a  universe  is  a  superstition  more  pitiable 
than  the  paganism  which  worshipped  the  image  of 
Diana  as  the  Mother  of  Creation.  It  seems  impossible 
that  an  Episcopal  Bishop  should  be  caught  in  such  a 
net.  Yet  his  avowal  appears  to  show  that  for  Darwin 
he  has  left  behind  his  Bible,  and  all  those  overwhelming 
proofs  by  which  Reason  establishes  the  Word  of  God 
as  an  inspired  revelation  of  eternal  salvation. 

A  book  is  contemptible  which  professing  to  be  history 
is  proved  falsehood.  In  Herodotus  and  Livy  we  expect 
legend.  But  in  Thucy elides  and  Tacitus  we  expect  fact. 
Irving's  Knickerbocker  is  fiction :  his  Washington  is 
truth.  We  judge  history  by  its  purpose.  Offence 
against  verity  is  in  proportion  to  the  importance  of  the 
subject.  Sin!  Pain!  Death!  A  blasted  earth!  A 
cursed  and  redeemed  race !  Pestilence !  Famine ! 
War!  Land  and  sea  thrilling  with  agonies!  Ocean 
strewn  with  corpses  and  earth  with  graves !  Humanity 
wailing  to  Heaven !  Its  cries  through  ages  from  its 
woe !  To  mock  its  sigh  would  be  inexpiable  crime.  We 
will  try  to  show  that  if  Adam  be  a  myth  Salvation  is  a 
fiction. 

In  Genesis  we  have  a  narrative  of  creation.  On  this 
hangs  the  Bible.  Underlying  it  is  the  prime  truth  that 
man  formed  by  his  Maker  is  responsible  to  his  Maker. 
The  creation-narrative  is  not  only  in  accord  with  Sci- 
ence, but  explicable  only  by  Science.  The  sublime  work 
accomplished  in  a  perfection  of  benevolence  and  wis- 
dom and  beauty  and  glory,  there  is  a  solemn  pause  and 
repetition  before  a  sin  which  mars  all  by  pain  and  death. 
Now  begins  a  narrative  in  the  language  of  simple  his- 
toric fact.  The  aim  and  style  of  the  writer  are  incom- 
patible with  myth,     Myth  is  a  mist  of  the  imagination. 

197 


Myth  is  falsehood.  To  say  that  the  record  of  paradise 
is  myth  is  to  say  that  it  is  a  lie.  Then  the  creation  of 
man  is  a  lie.  His  temptation  is  a  lie.  His  fall  is  a  lie ! 
His  curse  is  a  lie !  His  blessings  are  a  lie.  If  the  Bible 
begins  with  a  lie  it  may  end  with  a  lie,  and  be  nothing 
between  but  lie.  Such  an  admission  shakes  faith  in 
every  part  of  the  Scripture  our  Bishop  is  sworn  to  de- 
fend as  the  Word  of  God.  His  clergy  have  bruised  the 
branches  of  the  tree  of  salvation.  He  poisons  its  root 
when  he  makes  Adam  a  myth.  The  wild  vines  of  his 
diocese,  we  fear,  have  been  supported  by  their  episcopal 
oak.  Having  said  this,  it  becomes  to  inquire  what  is 
taught  by  his  Bible  and  his  Church. 

Moses 

The  supreme  leader  has  brought  Israel  from  Egypt 
through  the  wilderness  across  the  Jordan  to  behold 
Canaan.  Crowned  with  a  halo  of  glory  from  eternity 
he  reviews  the  past  and  prophesies  the  future.  Exalted 
to  ecstatic  song  he  pours  forth  the  soul  of  a  departing 
father.  He  recalls  in  his  farewell  strain  the  time 
"When  the  Most  High  gave  the  nations  their  in- 
heritance, when  He  separated  the  sons  of  Adam". 
To  children  of  nothing,  who  are  fathers  of  something, 
— nonentities  who  beget  entities, — Hypercritics  repre- 
sent the  Almighty  as  granting  our  very  substantial 
world. 

Job 

Only  the  words  of  Jehovah  from  the  whirlwind  ex- 
ceed in  sublimity  the  protestation  of  his  suffering  ser- 
vant. All  in  life  and  death :  in  past  and  present :  in 
earth  and  heaven,  Job  invokes  to  witness  his  innocence. 
He  recalls  paradise  and  our  first  parent,  who  to  his  pos- 
terity set  the  prime  example  of  deceit :  and  mentioning 

198 


by  his  name  the  father  of  us  all,  he  exclaims,  as  familiar 
with  the  fact,  ''If  I  covered  my  transgression  like 
Adam". 

Hosea 
"They  like  Adam  have  transgressed  the  covenant". 

Psalm  lxxxii.  7 
"But  like  Adam  ye  shall  die". 

Ezekiel 

"They  are  all  delivered  unto  death,  to  the  nether 
parts  of  the  earth  like  the  children  of  Adam". 

A  thousand  years  elapsed  from  Moses  in  sight  of 
Canaan  to  Ezekiel  in  the  exile  of  the  captivity.  During 
this  interval  we  have  five  inspired  writers  who  allude 
to  Adam  in  such  a  way  as  to  prove  they  considered  the 
narration  in  Genesis  as  accepted  historic  fact. 

Our  Lord 
Recalling  the  creation  of  man  and  woman,  Jesus,  by 
their  original  relation,  reformed  the  marriage  state  for 
his  own  age  and  all  time.  Into  humanity  He  was  intro- 
ducing a  revolution  of  that  holy  union  which  peoples 
earth  and  heaven.  His  teaching  was  to  carry  forward 
its  effects  through  eternity.  -  Myth  could  not  enforce 
obligation.  Falsehood  does  not  fortify  fact.  Adam  a 
nonentity  !  Eve  a  fancy  !  Paradise  a  legend  !  Jehovah 
Himself  a  fiction  !  Such  is  the  Hyperergic  Bible  !  With 
myths  as  arguments  our  Lord's  words  would  be  wind. 
In  Hebrew  and  Greek,  Jews  read  and  believed  the  Old 
Testament.  To  them  its  record  of  creation  was  historic 
fact.  The  national  faith  was  unreserved  and  universal. 
All  knew  that  our  Lord  spake  of  Adam  and  Eve  as  the 
immediate   workmanship  of  Jehovah,  and  on  the  sov- 

199 


ereignty  of  creatorship  grounded  obligation.  Had  his 
nation  believed  a  falsehood,  instead  of  sanctioning,  our 
Lord  would  have  corrected  their  error.  Hear  his  words ! 
"Have  ye  not  read  that  He  who  made  them  from  the 
beginning  made  them  male  and  female".  He  then 
quotes  the  Almighty  Creator  who  said  in  Paradise, 
''For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother, 
and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  the  twain  shall  become 
one  flesh'/. 

Paul 

The  great  theologian  of  Christianity  was  converted 
and  commissioned  by  the  voice  of  his  ascended  Master 
to  witness  and  expound  salvation.  He  affirms — "As  in 
Adam  all  died,  so  also  in  Christ  all  shall  be  made  alive". 
Hypercritics  read,  "In  a  myth  all  died".  From  a  myth 
then  sin  in  all  our  generations.  Myth  makes  our  pangs 
and  graces.  Was  this  the  meaning  of  Paul?  The  re- 
verse is  proved  by  his  contrast  between  Adam  and 
Christ.  Resurrection  could  not  come  from  myth.  Adam 
and  Christ  are  corelated.  As  Christ  is  a  fact  so  is  Adam 
a  fact.  And  this  agrees  with  the  following  words  of 
the  immortal  chapter — "The  first  man  is  of  the  earth, 
earthy:  the  second  man  the  Lord  from  heaven.  And  as 
we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  so  we  shall  bear 
the  image  of  the  heavenly". 

Referring  to  the  creation-narrative  as  history,  Paul 
also  wrote — "The  man  is  not  of  the  woman  :  but  the 
woman  of  the  man :  for  neither  was  the  man  created  for 
the  woman,  but  the  woman  for  the  man".  In  the  light 
of  these  words  in  Corinthians  we  can  interpret  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Romans.  "Through  one  man — Adam — sin 
entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin :  so  that  death 
passed  upon  all  men — e^{  cu  icdvreg  ^fiaprav — in  him  whom 

200 


— Adam — all  sinned".  "Death  reigned  from  Adam  to 
Moses".  Verse  after  verse  contrasts  the  sin  of  Adam 
with  the  grace  of  Christ.  Then  the  whole  matchless 
argument  is  summed  and  crowned  in  one  conclusive 
and  triumphant  statement — "As  by  the  sin  of  one  on 
all  men  to  condemnation,  thus  also  by  the  righteousness 
of  One  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  Life". 

And  this  doctrine  of  Paul  is  that  of  two  of  those  arti- 
cles which  Doctor  Potter,  as  Deacon,  Presbyter  and 
Bishop,  by  his  written  and  his  spoken  vow,  pledged 
himself  to  believe  and  guard  and  preach. 

Article  IX. 

"Our  general  sin  standeth  not  in  the  following  of 
Adam,  as  the  Pelagians  do  vainly  teach,  but  it  is  the 
fault  and  corruption  of  nature  of  every  man  that  natur- 
ally in  engendered  of  the  offspring  of  Adam". 

Article  X. 

"The  condition  of  man  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is  such 
that  he  can  not  turn  and  prepare  himself  by  his  own 
natural  strength  to  good  works,  faith,  and  calling  upon 
God". 

Hypercriticism  is  now  an  organization.  Its  Inter- 
national Commentary  is  a  European  and  American 
Propaganda.  Its  leaders  have  been  proclaimed.  Its  emis- 
saries penetrate  our  churches.  Our  countrymen  there- 
fore should  know  it  in  its  last  and  crowning  declaration. 
This  we  will  quote  from  a  recent  volume  by  Dr.  Bous- 
set,  a  Professor  in  one  of  the  greatest  universities  in  the 
land  of  Luther. 

"There  is  still  one  thing  that  no  longer  fits  in  with 
this  new  world  of  thought — a  miracle,  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  word,  in  the  sense  of  the  intervention  of  God,  in 

201 


the  natural  order  of  things  by  setting  aside  its  laws. 
We  moderns  no  longer  hold  fast  to  this  belief  in  mir- 
acles. History  would  appear  to  destroy  the  idea  of  in- 
spiration— that  is  to  say  of  any  special  revelation — in 
the  Old  and  New  Testament.  The  conception  of  Re- 
demption, the  dogma  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  the  idea  of  vicarious  sacrifice,  the 
belief  in  the  miraculous,  in  the  old  view  of  revelation — 
we  see-  how  all  these  have  been  swept  away  in  the 
stream  of  human  development". 

Hypercriticism  does  not  approach  the  Bible  through 
the  proofs  of  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord  which  ap- 
peal to  our  reason,  and  from  which  follow  his  Messiah- 
ship  and  Godhead.  As  irreconcilable  with  Science  and 
History,  it  sweeps  disdainfully  away  all  evidence  from 
prophecy.  With  contempt  it  glances  on  arguments 
which  have  convinced  and  satisfied  the  intellects  that 
have  ruled  humanity.  It  studies  Christianity  as  if  the 
earth  and  not  the  sun  was  the  center  of  our  system. 
Having  made  the  Bible  a  skeleton  it  invites  us  to  ad- 
mire the  ghastly  ruin.  Salvation  it  would  turn  to  chaos, 
and  glory  in  the  darkness  it  creates.  Christ  the  Sun  it 
seeks  to  hurl  from  heaven,  and  leave  our  future  in  eter- 
nal gloom.  Hypercriticism  is  an  apostasy  of  Infidelity 
which  will  end  in  an  abyss  of  Schism.  In  the  Episcopal 
Church  it  is  a  traitor  doomed  to  exposure.  What  may- 
be concealed  in  other  communions,  in  it  can  not  be  hid. 
In  our  articles  doctrine  is  indeed  a  skeleton  necessary 
as  bones  to  a  body.  But  our  liturgy  is  clothed  with  the 
beauty  of  flesh.  Our  Prayer  Book  is  an  imbedded 
Bible.  Our  Orthodoxy  is  not  a  dogma,  but  a  worship. 
Our  fasts  and  festivals  are  witnesses  to  a  living  faith. 
Advent  and  Christmas  and  Good  Friday  and  Easter  and 
Whitsunday  and  Trinity,  in  the  light  of  the  glory  of 

202 


God,  convict  the  clerical  hypocrite  who,  before  Christ 
and  the  people,  dares  pronounce  immortal  truths  which 
his  heart  disbelieves. 

Our  magnificent  metropolitan  city  we  so  love  and 
admire  has  been  astounded  and  confounded  by  recent 
revelations.  Forgeries !  Perjuries !  Riots !  Robber- 
ies !  Assassinations  !  Suicides  !  Pistol  and  dagger  and 
cord  and  poison  familiar  in  daily  report !  Social  and 
political  and  religious,  leaders  convicted  of  enormous 
crimes  and  imprisoned  with  thieves  and  murderers ! 
By  minifying  sin  :  by  discarding  repentance  and  remis- 
sion and  regeneration :  by  denying  Incarnation  and 
Atonement  and  Resurrection  and  Judgment :  by  remov- 
ing from  Holy  Scripture  all  divine  authority,  Hyper- 
criticism  must  bear  its  part. in  responsibility  for  these 
modern  horrors  which  deface  our  civilization.  But  the 
cause  and  cure  are  deeper  than  mere  doctrinal  error. 
All  Christians  should  unite  in  confession  and  repent- 
ance and  amendment,  and  supplicate  forgiveness  from 
the  Almighty  Father,  and  receive  that  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  without  which  we  have  no  power. 

In  our  theological  seminaries  is  our  hope  of  the 
future.  Our  Lord  has  made  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel the  prime  agency  in  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
His  institution  must  be  the  center  of  all  Christian  effort. 
The  true  clergyman  moulds  his  people.  He  must  be 
trained  as  an  athlete  if  he  would  fight  as  a  soldier. 
Against  him  are  more  than  flesh  and  blood.  He  wrestles 
with  principalities :  with  powers,  with  the  world-rulers 
of  the  darkness  of  his  age :  with  the  pneumaticals  of 
wickedness  among  the  celestials.  Before  such  foes  he 
needs  a  panoply.  Paul  describes  the  armor  of  the  war- 
rior :  His  girdle  truth.  His  breastplate  righteousness. 
His  step  peace.     His  shield  faith.     His  helmet  salva- 

203 


tion.  His  sword  Scripture.  His  power  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Our  seminary  scholars  must  be  disciplined  as 
soldiers.  Are  they  taught  Hebrew?  Right;  Greek? 
Right !  Theology  ?  Right !  Exegesis  and  History  and 
Composition  and  Elocution  ?  Right !  Moses,  Paul, 
Luther,  Wesley — all  who  have  battled  most  successfully 
for  salvation,  have  been  men  of  the  best  education  at- 
tainable in  their  times.  Each  theological  seminary 
should  be  a  center  of  Learning.  But,  unaided  intel- 
lectuality will  never  convert  our  world.  Education  is 
but  a  force  of  nature,  and  limited  therefore  by  our 
human  conditions.  Almighty  Breath  alone  changes 
bones  to  men.  Steam  speeds  ships.  Gravitation  wheels 
worlds.  The  Omnipotent  Holy  Ghost  regenerates  souls. 
Without  Him  even  the  Gospel  is  not  Eternal  Life.  Who 
were  trained  as  the  Apostles  ?  Called  by  our  Lord : 
three  years  his  pupils :  witnesses  of  his  death  and  res- 
urrection and  ascension :  and  yet  inadequate  to  their 
work!  Pentecost  completed  their  education.  Not 
meaningless  the  crown  of  fire  :  the  tongue  of  flame :  the 
change  of  soul.  After  all  their  schooling  by  Christ, 
unbaptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  would  have  been  as 
powerless  before  Satan  as  a  Greek,  or  Latin,  or  Scien- 
tist philosopher.  The  Spirit  of  God  must  vitalize  our 
theological  training.  Each  lecture-room  should  be  a 
place,  not  only  of  mental  instruction,  but  also  of  spiritual 
power.  We  confess  the  Holy  Ghost  in  our  creed,  and 
omit  him  in  our  education.  Let  professors  and  students 
in  all  our  seminaries  unite  to  restore  the  missing  factor 
of  light  and  power  and  joy  and  assurance  and  victory ! 
Our  graduates  should  go  forth  soldiers  prepared  for 
spiritual  battle,  panoplied  in  Scripture :  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  glowing  in  the  triumph  of  prom- 
ised  victory.      Doubters   never   conquer.      Joyful   in  "a 

204 


divine  strength  our  student-warriors  will  be  certain  of 
their  crowns.  In  the  day  of  millenial  Salvation  the 
pulpits  of  our  earth  will  be  its  thrones :  preachers  its 
kings :  the  cross  its  scepter :  and  on  its  banners,  not 
lions  and  eagles,  but  the  Lamb  and  the  Dove,  symbols 
of  Eternal  Empire. 


205 


XVIII. 


PRESIDENT   WHITE 

A  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology  in 
Christendom. 

Autobiography  of  Andrew  Dickson  White,  with  por- 
traits. 

In  Christendom  Theology  is  the  knowledge  of  God 
systematized  from  Scripture.  Science  is  the  knowledge 
of  laws  derived  from  phenomena.  How  can  these  war  ? 
Both  are  children  of  peace  in  the  image  of  their  Al- 
mighty Father.  Bible  and  Science  are  eternal  brothers. 
Had  our  author  defined  his  terms  we  would  have  been 
spared  his  book.  He  spins  a  spider-line  through  the 
centuries,  strings  on  it  facts  which  have  no  connection, 
records  them  with  an  air  of  patronizing  philosophy  and 
magisterial  scholarship,  always  evincing  a  mind  ignor- 
ant of  its  own  limitations. 

By  his  peculiar  chemistries,  for  his  special  purpose, 
Dr.  White  colors  into  Theology  and  Science,  all  the 
medieval  struggles,  civil  and  social  and  religious,  be- 
tween all  knowledge  and  all  ignorance.  Plainly  he 
paints  for  the  multitude.  He  will  not  deceive  scholars, 
who  should  have  formed  the  audience  of  a  college  Pres- 
ident and  an  Oxford  Doctor. 

Before  the  Reformation  Science  had  no  existence, 
and  could  wage  no  war,  while  Scripture  was  hidden  in 

206 


a  few  pious  hearts.  Was  the  Aristotelian  Logic  Sci- 
ence? Was  the  Platonic  Philosophy  Science?  Was 
Astrology  Science?  Was  Alchemy  Science?  Was 
Divinity  Science  ?  There  was  no  astronomy  :  there  was 
no  chemistry :  there  was  no  geology :  there  was  no  in- 
duction. Hence  there  was  no  Science.  Dr.  White 
transmutes  historic  facts  into  imaginary  battles.  Greek 
and  Latin  fathers  were  superstitious.  Councils  were 
turbulent.  Sects  were  fanatical.  Humanity  was  a  giant 
struggling  in  chains  and  midnight.  For  neither  The- 
ology nor  Science,  but  for  gold  and  power,  popes  be- 
gan their  own  war  when  they  assaulted  the  liberty  of 
Peter  Waldo. 

A  harmless  and  undesigned  error  might  pass  unno- 
ticed. But  on  the  book  of  Doctor  White  is  a  blot.  The 
multitude  mistakes  his  Theology  for  Christanity.  In 
their  view  he  discredits  Christianity  with  war  on  all 
advancing  knowledge.  He  identifies  Christianity  with 
persecution.  Was  this  his  object?  If  he  were  a  mere 
scholar  we  would  defend  him  with  an  emphatic — No ! 
But  he  declares  that  his  chosen  vocation  would  have 
been  a  newspaper  reportership.  He  was  politician  as 
well  as  president.  Had  his  heart  been  wholly  in  his 
work  he  would  have  never  left  the  shades  of  Cornell 
for  the  most  brilliant  association  with  dons  and  prelates 
and  nobles  and  kings  and  czars  and  emperors.  We 
sometimes  fear  that  his  ambitions  as  a  statesman  col- 
ored his  mind  as  philosopher  and  author,  and  sent  him 
in  chase  of  the  bubble  popularity. 

The  Reformation  led  Europe  into  that  liberty  which 
made  Science  possible.  Who  emancipated  humanity? 
Who  created  our  new  era  of  freedom?  Who  pointed 
the  world  towards  universal  enlightenment?  Luther  a 
theologian,  supported  by  Melancthon  a  theologian,  aided 

207 


by  converted  monks  and  university  professors,  each  a 
theologian.  After  the  Reformation  the  theologian  was 
the  apostle  of  progress.  Cranmer  and  Latimer  and 
Redley  were  more  than  martyrs  for  their  faith.  The 
fires  that  melted  their  chains  liberated  our  race. 

Who  proclaimed  those  immortal  principles  of  Induc- 
tion which  are  the  life  of  all  Science?  Bacon,  a  Chris- 
tian. Who  told  the  world  that  our  earth  and  her  sisters 
revolved  about  the  sun  ?  Copernicus,  a  Christian.  Who 
proved  the  planetary  orbits  to  be  ellipses  with  the  king 
of  day  at  their  foci?  Kepler,  a  Christian.  Who  con- 
firmed these  discoveries,  demonstrated  gravitation,  de- 
composed light,  and  revolutionized  mathematics?  New- 
ton, a  Christian.  Ever  since,  in  the  van  of  all  progress 
in  Science,  in  every  nation,  have  been  men  distinctively 
Christian.  Luther  ignorantly  denounced  Copernicus. 
His  eyes  witnessed  sun  and  moon  and  stars  seemingly 
revolving  around  the  earth.  The  mathematics  of  Co- 
pernicus he  could  not  grasp.  But  is  it  fair  to  magnify 
his  mortal  infirmity  and  cloud  his  splendid  achievement.  ? 

Our  author  has  made  a  popular  impression  time  only 
can  efface.  He  has  ransacked  the  libraries  of  the  world 
and  scavengered  the  scum  of  centuries,  and  hurled  the 
foul  mass  against  Theology  by  name,  and  Christianity 
in  fact.  Well  might  he  have  pointed  out  mortal  indi- 
vidual error,  and  exhibited  his  Bible  as  the  sun  of  all 
truth,  the  source  of  all  liberty  and  the  spring  of  all 
progress. 

Dr.  White  has  the  unusual  honor  and  pleasure  of 
painting  his  own  portrait.  No  other  artist  could  have 
drawn  the  lines,  and  dashed  the  colors  to  better  advant- 
age. He  will  need  no  posthumous  eulogist.  Our  author 
pictures  himself  in  every  stage  of  his  life.  We  see  him 
photographed   a   handsome   boy :   a   whiskered  man :   a 

208 


decorated  doctor.  In  his  autobiography  there  is  slight 
reserve.  It  draws  the  curtain,  and  shows  ^the  Doctor 
among  foreign  and  domestic  literary  magnates  :  among 
diplomats  and  statesmen  and  generals :  among  nobles 
and  kings  and  queens  and  emperors.  Now  he  presides 
over  Cornell  and  now  at  the  Hague.  Only  some  great 
gift  could  have  admitted  him  to  these  high  and  shining 
places  of  the  earth. 

But  he  is  best  satisfied  with  himself  as  the  successful 
organizer  of  a  noble  and  flourishing  institution.  Here 
his  merit  is  incontestable.  Yet  we  doubt  whether  the 
educational  revolution  he  claims  to  have  wrought  is 
wholly  beneficial.  We  acknowledge  the  advantages  of 
the  system  of  instruction  under  undenominational 
boards  and  lay  presidents.  It  is  not  to  be  judged  by  its 
unfledged  electives,  its  uproarious  athletes,  its  crowd- 
ing males  and  females  who  presume  they  are  collegians. 

Enormous  advances  have  been  made,  if  not  in  mental 
discipline,  yet  in  extended  knowledge.  But  we  fear 
that  while  the  stream  is  fast  and  wide  and  noisy,  it  is 
not  so  deep  as  formerly.  What  education  has  gained  in 
expansion  it  has  lost  in  accuracy.  Even  its  teachers 
exhibit  a  laxity  of  thought  and  statement.  At  an  alumni 
dinner,  I  heard  a  professor  of  our  most  populous  uni- 
versity declare  that  all  the  greatest  mathematical  dis- 
courses had  been  made  during  the  nineteenth  century. 
Rising  before  me  is  our  dingy  old  college  lecture-room. 
I  see  the  glowing  face  and  animating  gestures  of  our 
brilliant  young  professor.  Nearly  seventy  years  since, 
in  an  institution  under  sectarian  trustees  and  a  clergy- 
man president,  we  were  taught  that  Newton  and  Leib- 
nitz and  Descartes  and  Euler  and  La  Place  and  La 
Grange  were  the  creators  of  modern  mathematics  long 
before  the  vaunted  nineteenth  century  was  born. 

209      ' 


But  let  us  test  the  clerical  and  lay  systems  by  the  men 
they  have  produced.  As  our  author  thinks  he  has  killed 
and  buried  the  old,  we  will  compare  it  with  the  new. 
In  three  relations  we  will  make  him  the  representative 
figure. 

Dr.  White,  the  Statesman 
His  autobiography  depicts  him  as  legislator,  commis- 
sioner and  ambassador.  Now  let  him  summon  around 
him  the  most  illustrious  of  his  political  contemporaries ! 
Let  him  call  them  from  the  House :  from  the  Senate : 
from  the  Supreme  Court !  Let  him  add  to  the  brilliant 
assemblage  all  the  presidents  of  his  own  times !  Let 
him  bring  over  the  ocean  the  most  splendid  diplomats 
who  have  represented  our. republic  in  Russia  and  France 
and  Italy  and  Germany  and  England !  From  these  let 
him  select  the  most  shining  men  educated  in  colleges, 
which,  like  Girard,  repudiated  the  clerical  president ! 
We  oppose  to  these  an  assemblage  from  .the  past.  Be- 
fore us  are  venerable  yet  familiar  faces  and  forms. 
Now  we  recognize  the  twenty-nine  collegiate  graduates 
who  formed  that  Constitution  which  Mr.  Gladstone 
pronounced  the  greatest  monument  of  political  genius 
ever  erected  by  man.  We  will  add  Hamilton,  trained, 
not  graduated  by  Columbia.  The  wisest  of  these  match- 
less statesmen  were  educated  under  clerical  presidents. 
In  the  sun-splendor  of  Hamilton  and  Madison  and  Jay 
and  Ellsworth  and  their  collegiate  compatriots,  we  may 
estimate  men  who  are  now  the  guiding  lights  of  our 
Republic. 

Dr.  White  as  Cornell  President 
To    organize    a    great    university    required    immense 
energy :  versatile  gifts :  practical   wisdom,  and  patient 
persistence.     Our  author  sees  around  him  proofs  of  a 

1       210 


splendid  success.  Cornell  is  his  monument  and  will 
give  his  name  to  future  ages.  But  on  his  pedestal  he 
should  not  regard  with  disdain  venerable  institutions 
which  moulded  the  youthful  and  formative  years  of  our 
republic.  His  flings  are  not  justified.  Here  again  we 
will  make  a  comparison.  We  will  surround  Dr.  White 
with  his  contemporaneous  lay  presidents  from  Har- 
vard :  from  Yale :  from  Princeton :  from  Columbia : 
from  Michigan  and  Chicago  and  Wisconsin  and  Cali- 
fornia. A  distinguished  assemblage !  We  give  these 
lay  educators  honor.  Now  we  invoke  giants  from  the 
shadows  of  the  past.  What  a  majestic  company  of  cler- 
gyman-presidents !  Immortal  their  work !  What  piety  : 
what  learning :  what  wisdom  :  what  power  !  From  their 
colleges  went  out  streams  of  moral  and  intellectual 
influence  which  fructified  our  land.  Contrasting  the 
past  with  the  present  we  feel  a  painful  consciousness  of 
loss,  as  if  a  beneficent  river  has  suddenly  dropped  from 
view  into  a  noisy  and  turbulent  abyss.  Our  author  may 
well  doubt  when  from  the  heights  of  Cornell  he  remem- 
bers Edwards  and  Dwight  and  Witherspoon  and  Alex- 
ander and  Wayland  and  Hopkins  and  Porter  and 
Woolsey. 

Dr.  White  as  an  Author 
His  most  laborious  work  is  his  treatise  on  an  imagi- 
nary war  between  Theology  and  Science.  His  crown- 
ing labor  is  his  minute  and  extended  autobiography. 
His  prolific  genius  has  also  produced  numerous  tract- 
ates which  he  carefully  names.  Let  our  author  blow 
his  trumpet!  Its  brazen  blast  is  answered!  Around 
our  Doctor  stand  the  writers  o'f  his  times !  Choose 
those  who  crown  his  elective  methods  under  lay  presi- 
dents!     Blazon  them  into  the  gfasoline  brilliance  of  the 


211 


most  expensive  and  elaborate  advertising !  Flash  over 
them  all  the  electricities  of  our  scintillating  age!  Its 
most  costly  illuminations  will  never  dazzle  into  ob- 
scurity Bryant  and  Longfellow  and  Prescott  and  Mot- 
ley and  Holmes :  and  towering  majestically  over  all  our 
kingly  Webster. 

We  are  now  brought  to  one  sentence  of  Dr.  White 
which  needs  special  reply.     He  says : 

"Moreover,  in  my  varied  reading  I  came  across  mul- 
titudes of  miracles  attributed  to  saints  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church — miracles  for  which  myriads  of  good 
men  and  women  were  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  in 
attestation  of  their  belief,  and  if  we  must  accept  one 
class  of  miracles  I  could  not  see  why  we  should  not 
accept  the  other". 

We  propose  to  press  this  premise  of  Dr.  White  to 
its  conclusion. 

Xavier  was  a  Spanish  nobleman.  He  became  an  ori- 
ental Jesuit  missionary.  During  his  career  he  claimed 
no  miracles.  After  his  death  his  admirers  began  to 
multiply  prodigies.  His  whip  lashed  out  disease.  His 
cross-sign  made  salt  water  fresh.  His  touch  or  word 
or  will  healed  the  sick :  raised  the  dead :  transfigured 
himself :  commanded  earthquake  and  volcano :  and 
called  fire  from  heaven.  Xavier  was  recommended  by 
the  conclave  and  canonized  by  the  pope  with  all  the 
magnificence  of  the  Roman  Church.  By  the  same  pro- 
cess pontiffs  have  made  many  saints  for  the  worship  of 
their  people.  All  are  included  in  their  lives  by  Alban 
Butler.  Two  thousand  have  the  certification  of  infal- 
lible popes.  Ultimately  on  their  authority  all  saint- 
miracles  are  to  be  believed.  And  their  authority,  our 
Doctor  asserts,  equals  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ. 
That  is,  the  prodigies  of  Alban  Butler  have  evidence  as 

212 


convincing  as  the  evidence  of  the  Gospels.  Here  we 
join  issue ! 

In  what  is  practically  and  popularly  a  Roman  Bible, 
Popes  testify  that  after  his  decapitation  Saint  Denis 
walked  carrying  in  his  hand  his  severed  head.  Ray- 
mond spread  his  cloak  on  the  sea,  stepped  on  the  float- 
ing garment,  and  in  six  hours  sailed  over  the  waves 
from  Majorca  to  Barcelona.  Crispin  is  saint  for  shoe- 
makers :  Clement  for  tanners :  Joseph  for  carpenters : 
Nicholas  for  sailors  :  Anthony  for  grocers  :  Blaise  for 
wool-combers :  Catharine  for  spinners  :  Eloy  for  black- 
smiths :  Francis  for  butchers  :  Gutman  for  tailors :  Gore 
for  potters :  Hilary  for  coopers :  John  for  booksellers : 
Leodaga  for  drapers  :  Peter  for  fishmongers :  Sebastian 
for  pin-makers :  Stephen  for  weavers :  Hubert  for 
bakers :  William  for  hatters :  Gertrude  for  rat-catchers. 

The  process  of  canonization  originates  in, the  Bishop. 
He  sends  his  sealed  sentence  to  the  Roman  Congrega- 
tion of  Rites.  It  examines  and  refers  to  the  conclave. 
On  the  recommendation  of  the  cardinals  the  pope  can- 
onizes. His  act  assures  that  three  essential  conditions 
have  been  fulfilled — Orthodoxy,  piety  and  two  miracles. 
Thus  in  Alban  Butler  we  have  three  witnesses  for  the 
prodigies  he  records — 

Bishops,  Cardinals  and  Popes. 
Also   for   Bible  miracles  we  have   three  witnesses — 
Prophets,  Apostles  and  Christ. 

In  his  autobiography  Dr.  White  asserts  that  the  testi- 
mony of  Bishops,  Cardinals  and  Popes  is  credible  as 
the  testimony  of  Prophets,  Apostles  and  Christ,  and 
that  Alban  Butler  is  true  as  Scripture. 

We  do  not  think  that  this  conclusion  is  creditable  to 
his  scholarship  or  his  intellect.    But  we  leave  him  to  the 

213 


comfort  of  his  theologies.  To  ourselves,  wide  as  the 
center  of  the  universe  from  its  circumference,  and  far 
as  man  from  God,  is  the  difference  between  Alban  But- 
ler and  Holy  Scripture :  between  human  puerilities  and 
divine  revelations  :  between  superstition  and  salvation : 
between  counterfeit  by  man  and  coinage  by  God:  be- 
tween bishops  and  cardinals  and  pontiffs,  many  of  whom 
blot  the  Roman  Calendar,  and  Prophets  and  Apostles, 
and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose  immaculate  character 
is  the  adoration  of  Heaven,  and  who  is  the  infallible 
witness  to  his  own  miracles.  Does  President  White 
think  that  His  miracles  mar  His  life?  Would  he  improve 
Jesus  by  explaining  away  His  miracles?  Just  as  well 
might  he  try  to  separate  its  shells  from  a  rock  fused 
cycles  since  in  the  fires  which  girdled  our  world.  His 
hand  will  never  undo  Omnipotence.  In  his  Apocalypse 
the  Almighty  represents  the  names  of  the  apostolic 
witnesses  to  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord  as  engraven 
'on  the  imperishable  gems  in  the  everlasting  foundations 
of  the  celestial  city.  Our  author  can  never  repeat  Jeri- 
cho, and  trumpet  down  the  throne  of  his  Creator. 
When  the  books  of  the  President  have  faded  from 
human  memory,  in  all  climes  and  ages  and  tongues, 
those  apocalyptic  stones,  testifying  the  Resurrection, 
will  be  teaching  the  Church  of  God  the  glories  of 
Salvation. 


214 


XIX. 


CHRIST   OUR   VINE 


Of  spiritual  things  creation  is  a  parable.  Grace  in 
the  heart  has  illustration  in  nature.  Each  regenerated 
soul  is  pictured  by  the  universe.  Physical  birth  is  the 
best  image  of  spiritual  birth.  Material  milk  feeds  the 
infants  of  nature  and  doctrinal  milk  nourishes  the  chil- 
dren of  grace.  Both  have  their  youth  and  their  man- 
hood. Equally  as  men  and  as  Christians  we  see,  we 
hear,  we  touch,  we  taste,  we  smell,  and  run,  walk,  grow, 
live,  die.  Our  father  on  earth  illustrates  our  Father  in 
Heaven.  The  earthly  home  images  the  eternal  habita- 
tion. Marriage  typifies  our  most  intimate  union  with 
our  Savior.  Dew,  rain,  day,  night,  light,  darkness: 
ploughing  and  seed-time  and  harvest :  growth  and  life 
and  death :  war  and  peace  and  victory :  star  and  moon 
and  sun :  our  social,  our  political,  our  moral  relations — 
all  on  earth  and  in  heaven  amid  the  processes  of  this 
vast  and  varied  universe,  are  symbols  of  ourselves  as 
pilgrims  of  grace  journeying  through  time  into  eternity. 

Exquisite  in  beauty  and  wisdom  the  parable  of  the 
Vine !  It  teaches  the  head  and  touches  the  heart.  The- 
ological systems  have  done  a  noble  work  in  defending 
and  expounding  Scripture.     Of  such  importance  have 

215 


they  been  to  the  writer  that  he  can  not  share  the  popu- 
lar prejudice  of  an  age  in  which,  too  often,  energy 
rushes  beyond  reason  into  a  superficial  assurance.  Our 
modern  world  may  still  consult  the  giants  of  the  past. 
Yet  we  confess  that  their  dry  and  ponderous  tomes  have 
frequently  made  truth  repulsive.  How  different  our 
Savior!  His  parable  of  the  Vine  was  spoken  during 
the  memorable  passion  week.  On  his  way  between 
Bethany' and  Jerusalem  He  may  have  seen  the  very 
stem,  clothed  with  leaves  and  laden  with  clusters,  which 
rose  before  his  mind  as  He  talked  with  his  disciples. 
Let  us  trace  the  meaning  of  his  words ! 

The  union  between  Christ  and  his  people  is  not 
natural  but  gracious. 

It  resembles  that  produced  by  the  familiar  process  of 
grafting.  Cast  your  eye  over  a  vineyard !  Its  thou- 
sands of  branches  are  bending  under  their  purple  bur- 
dens. Select  the  largest  and  most  inviting  cluster! 
Hear  its  history !  Learn  the  secret  of  its  size  and  beauty 
and  fruitfulness !  A  few  years  before  the  husbandman 
approached  the  vigorous  stem  and  made  a  deep  incision 
with  his  knife.  He  then  took  a  slender  twig,  trimmed 
it  with  delicate  care,  inserted  it  in  the  prepared  stock, 
tied  it  with  bandages,  and  left  it  to  the  dews  and  rains 
and  suns  of  heaven.  Soon  graft  and  vine  become  a 
single  incorporated  life.  The  small  twig  expands  into 
a  great  fruitful  branch  which  rewards  the  husband- 
man's skill  and  labor. 

And  so  with  the  believer  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Did  he  move  himself  toward  his  Savior?  Did  he  unite 
his  soul  to  his  Savior?  Did  he  grow  by  the  forces  of 
his  nature  into  his  Savior?  No!  He  was  hard  and 
cold  and  insensible.  No  more  could  he  bring  himself 
to  God  than  can  a  corpse  push  itself  through  coffin  and 

216 


earth  into  air  and  sunshine.  Only  the  Holy  Spirit 
draws  and  leads  to  remission  and  regeneration  and 
adoption  and  assurance.  He  in  Christ  makes  all  things 
new.  In  each  operation  of  grace  He  preserves  my 
agency  while  He  exercises  his  own  sovereignty.*  Re- 
sembling the  mighty  invisible  winds,  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
known  by  the  effects  of  his  Omnipotence.  Our  birth 
from  him  is  a  proved  fact,  but  a  hidden  process.  Can 
you  penetrate  the  vine?  Can  you  explain  how  its  forces 
work?  Can  you  tell  me  the  way  in  which  your  graft 
becomes  part  of  the  parent  stock?  You  are  baffled  by 
these  inquiries.  How  then  can  you  expect  to  compre- 
hend the  subtle  and  invisible  processes  by  which  your 
Soul,  a  slave  to  sin,  was  freed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
made  joyful  and  victorious  in  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of 
God?  As  the  graft  was  prepared  by  the  husbandman, 
and  carried  to  the  vine,  and  lifted  to  its  life,  so  you 
were  drawn  from  self  and  sin  and  death  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Almighty,  and  united  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Your  freedom  and  agency  were  wisely  and  delicately 
and  inexplicably  preserved,  while  you  were  yet  incorpo- 
rated into  the  Eternal  Vine  by  the  sovereign  creatorship 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

And  this  union  between  Christ  and  his  people 
is  mutual. 

The  husbandman  watches  the  propitious  hour.  The 
soil  has  attained  sufficient  warmth.  The  sun  shines 
brightly  in  the  sky.  The  atmosphere  is  bland  and  fav- 
orable. Nature  has  completed  her  preparation.  Now 
the  husbandman  begins  his  task.  He  trims  his  twig, 
and  makes  his  incision  before  that  time  when  the  stem 
would  weep  from  its  wounds  the  drops  of  its  life.  In 
the  strong  vine  he  fastens  his  feeble  graft.  Soon  the 
shrivelling     fibres     of     the     foreign     branch     expand 

217 


with  the  vitalizing  currents  of  the  parent  stock. 
Weeks  pass.  The  two  become  one.  The  vine  embraces 
the  branch :  the  branch  rests  in  the  vine.  The  vine  sup- 
ports the  branch :  the  branch  is  upheld  by  the  vine.  The 
vine  supplies  to  the  branch  its  circulating  life :  the 
branch  derives  its  fruitfulness  from  the  vine. 

And  so  in  our  conversion  to  Christ.  He  watched 
each  token  of  our  spiritual  season.  He  nurtured  each 
growth  within  the  soul.  He  directed  all  the  outer  cir- 
cumstances of  our  lives.  When  the  opportune  moment 
came  He  united  us,  by  faith  in  his  own  Divine  Blood 
for  remission,  to  Himself,  and  gave  us  his  witnessing 
Spirit,  and  enabled  us  as  sons  to  cry,  Abba,  Father. 
Blessed  and  beautiful  our  incorporation !  As  the  old 
life  of  nature  becomes  exhausted  the  new  life  of  grace 
multiplies  the  fruits  of  holiness.  Christ  receives  the 
believer :  the  believer  dwells  in  Christ.  Christ  nourishes 
the  believer:  the  believer  draws  strength  from  Christ. 
Christ  lives  in  the  believer:  the  believer  grows  into 
Christ.  To  the  believer  Christ  is  Vine :  and  of  Christ 
the  believer  is  branch. 

Nor  must  we  overlook  the  interdependence  of  the 
branches.  Next  to  the  love  of  God  is  the  love  of  our 
neighbor.  They  are  related  as  flower  to  fragrance :  as 
fountain  to  stream :  as  sun  to  beam.  And  are  spon- 
taneous as  scent,  and  flow  and  ray.  Learn  from  the 
Vine  a  lesson  of  love !  Its  branches  shield  and  strength- 
en each  other.  Among  them  is  no  isolated  life.  As  if  en- 
dued with  intelligence  and  sympathy,  delicate  tendrils 
twine  about  the  paternal  stem  and  by  affectionate  clasp- 
ings  hold  up  the  loaded  clusters.  Without  these  family 
helps  many  branches,  although  united  to  the  vine,  and 
partaking  its  life,  .might  break  under  their  burdening 

218 


grapes,  and  be  overborne  to  the  earth,  and  perish  by . 
flame  or  decay. 

Christians  too  can  have  no  independent  life.  Bap- 
tism and  Eucharist  are  more  than  signs  and  seals  of  our 
remission  and  regeneration.  Also  they  are  bonds  and 
tokens  of  fellowship.  We  are  united  by  immortal  ties 
of  faith  and  hope  and  love.  Water,  bread  and  wine 
symbolize  an  everlasting  communion.  On  earth  they 
are  visible  proofs  that  the  Church  is  one  family  in 
Heaven.  Here  and  there  we  have  the  same  Savior. 
In  grace  and  glory  saints  are  Christians.  But,  however 
sublime  our  vocation  and  experience  we  will  never  be 
beyond  the  need  of  fellowship.  What  a  power  in  a 
tear,  a  smile,  a  tone !  A  bright  face  kindles  a  glow  in 
the  despondent.  Nearing  his  eternal  home  even  the 
aged  pilgrim  welcomes  a  word  and  look  of  love.  By  its 
visible  and  audible  expressions  we  are  all  cheered  and 
comforted.  Branch  must  assist  branch,  that  we  may 
draw  life  from  Christ,  and  bring  forth  those  fruits  of 
righteousness  which  are  the  prophecies  and  preparatives 
for  Heaven. 

The  union  between  Christ  and  his  people  is 
indispensable. 

It  is  the  life  and  test  of  piety.  Unless  the  branch 
enter  the  wine,  and  drink  its  vivifying  sap,  how  useless 
external  appliances !  Let  your  stock  be  vigorous :  your 
graft  healthy :  your  bandage  firm !  Without  union  will 
be  death.  Dews  and  rains  and  sunlight  will  be  vain  in 
their  visitations  to  a  limb  that  draws  no  life  from  its 
stem. 

So  also  unless  joined  to  Christ  we  bear  no  fruit. 
Apart  from  Him,  doctrines,  forms,  sacraments,  duties, 
observances  are  vanities:  Graceless  orthodoxy  and  cer- 
emonial are  starvation.     Bandage  branch  to  vine  with 

219 


gold !  x\dd  sparkles  of  diamonds !  Hang  the  wealth 
of  India !  Expense  and  display  create  no  life.  Only 
union  brings  fruit.  But  amid  both  doctrinal  and  cere- 
monial error  there  may  be  a  true  faith  in  the  Redeemer, 
as  with  a  gnarled  and  homely  branch,  if  a  fibre  slender 
as  a  thread,  moistened  by  a  drop,  touch  the  juices  as 
they  ascend  and  descend  in  their  mysterious  annual 
courses  an  instantaneous  life  may  be  communicated 
which, will  develop  into  all  the  beauty  of  broad  leaves, 
and  the  glory  of  ripe  clusters.  Well-nourished  the 
lonely  twig  may  surpass  the  lofty  branch  in  fruitfulness. 

Union  between  Christ  and  his  people  is  incon- 
ceivably INTIMATE. 

Come  with  me  again  to  the  vineyard !  Let  us  stand 
before  some  venerable  stem  surrounded  with  its 
branches  like  a  father  amid  his  children !  Examine 
where  a  twig  joins  its  stock !  You  discover  a  knotted 
swelling  which  defends  against  storm  and  intruder.  The 
little  limb  clings  to  its  gnarled  stock  as  if  it  knew  how 
worthless  it  would  be  pulled  off  by  some  rude  hand,  or 
whirled  away  by  mad  winds,  while  the  great  fatherly 
vine  seems  almost  conscious  of  the  protection  it  affords. 
Try  to  separate  the  two !  Cruel  wounds,  and  weeping 
drops  and  withering  death  would  be  included  in  their 
severance.  And  so  with  ourselves !  We  hide  in  Christ 
when  the  storm  rages  :  when  the  sky  grows  black :  when 
earth  is  shaken :  when  time  is  vanity  and  man  is  false, 
and  demons  strike  and  Satan  leers.  In  Christ  is  our 
victory.  Christ  we  trust  and  have  the  everlasting 
strength.  See  the  little  lone  branch  whirled  away  amid 
the  dust,  now  in  the  air  and  now  on  the  earth,  tossed 
and  torn  and  helpless,  and  never  more  to  have  place  in 
the  vine,  and  be  useful  and  beautiful  with  fruit !  Such 
are  we  tempted  from  our  Lord  !     He  realized  the  peril 

220 


of  his  apostles!  For  three  years  they  had  heard  his 
voice:- seen  his  face:  beheld  his  works:  and  been  taught 
by  his  words.  Ineffable  their  love  for  their  Master ! 
Separation  is  near !  For  Jesus,  betrayal,  desertion, 
agony :  the  cross :  the  tomb !  And  for  his  witnesses, 
toils,  persecutions,  martyrdoms !  What  a  midnight ! 
Foreseeing  these  fearful  days  of  orphanage  in  his  ab- 
sence on  his  throne  of  glory,  He  promises  the  Com- 
forter to  abide  with  his  people  forever. 

Union  with  Christ  is  sure  to  be  fruitful. 

Pluck  a  branch  from  its  stem !  While  separated  no 
skill  or  power  of  man  can  produce  a  grape.  Let  the 
philosopher  theorize !  Let  the  lecturer  talk !  Let  the 
chemist  galvanize !  Does  your  branch  leaf  ?  Does  it 
bud?  Does  it  blossom?  Does  it  bear?  No!  It  dies! 
Before  life  is  extinct  carry  it  back,  and  join  it  to  its 
parental  vine !  It  revives  :  it  grows  :  it  bends  with  ripe 
clusters.  There  is  no  noise,  but  mighty  energy  in  the 
process.  All  over  the  vineyard  is  the  same  silent  and 
gradual  and  effective  power.  Where  man  fails  God 
succeeds.  His  productive  methods  declare  his  divine 
wisdom-.  God  supplies  the  soil  that  feeds  the  roots. 
God  pours  down  the  light  from  his  own  sun.  God 
sends  his  rains  and  dews,  and  breathes  around  his  vital- 
izing air.  God  protects  in  the  winter :  warms  in  the 
spring:  glows  in  the  summer,  and  brings  forth  the  mel- 
low abundance  of  autumn.  How  wise  and  wonderful 
his  operations  in  earth  and  heaven,  and  all  in  accord- 
ance with  the  exact  laws  of  mechanics  and  chemistry! 
When  the  season  comes  you  will  see  the  luscious  clus- 
ters loading  the  bending  branches,  blushing  to  the  sun, 
bursting  with  their  liquid  sweetness,  and  inviting  to 
partake  their  exquisite  nectar. 

The  vine  illustrates  the  Christian.     Joined  by  living 

221 


faith  to  Christ  fruit  is  inevitable.  We  produce  by  a 
necessary  law.  Grace  causes  goodness  as  a  vine  yields 
grapes.  In  both  cases  when  the  condition  exists  the 
effect  follows.  As  the  sap  develops  into  fruits  so  faith 
ripens  into  works.  Nor  need  there  be  more  cant  in  our 
Christianity  than  noise  in  our  vineyard.  Grace  is  not 
best  proved  by  creeds  and  ceremonies.  Our  faith  must 
be  nourished  by  watching  and  prayer  and  obedience  and 
Scripture,  but  may  most  truly  express  itself  in  kind 
words,  in  cheerful  looks,  in  affectionate  tones,  in  broth- 
erly offices,  in  sweet  attentions,  in  charitable  judgments, 
in  deep  submissions,  in  gracious  answers,  in  courageous 
confessions,  in  manly  apologies,  in  righteous  restitu- 
tions, and  all  that  loveliness  of  Christian  character  which 
adorns  home  and  office  and  exchange,  and  pervades 
life  with  its  influence  as  the  tendrils  and  leaves  and 
blossoms  and  clusters  give  beauty  and  profit  to  the 
vineyard. 

Lastly,  our  union  with  Christ  is  joyful. 

In  the  Gospel  is  no  ascetic  gloom.  Sad  slaves  never 
conquer.  In  the  exultation  of  freedom  is  victory.  Are 
your  sins  remitted?  Rejoice!  Are  you  born  of  the 
Spirit?  Rejoice!  Are  you  assured  by  the  Comforter? 
Rejoice!  Do  you  abide  in  Christ,  and  bear  fruit,  and 
diffuse  around  you  the  brightness  and  fragrance  of  the 
divine  grace?  Rejoice!  Have  you  in  your  heart  the 
hope  of  the  everlasting  image  and  fellowship  of  your 
glorified  Redeemer?  Rejoice!  There  is  joy  in  pardon: 
joy  in  faith:  joy  in  love:  joy  in  liberty:  joy  in  victory: 
joy  in  this  Eternal  Life  begun  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Each  vineyard  on  Olivet  was  an  annual  scene  of 
gladness.  Hear  the  festival  song!  From  Bethlehem 
to  Lebanon  the  land  is  flushed  with  joy.  Vintage  has 
comei     Men  and  women  and  children,  with  shout  and. 

222 


laughter,  are  gathering  the  ripe  grapes  glowing  in  the 
sun,  and  bearing  them  in  baskets  to  the  wine-press, 
where  purple  currents  gushing  forth  awake  universal 
jubilation.  As  Giver  of  all  Israel  rejoices  in  Jehovah. 
This  national  festive  scene  pictures  the  millenial  vintage 
when  earth,  won  to  Christ,  will  glory  in  the  fruits  of 
righteousness,  and  send  to  Heaven  her  song  of  triumph. 


223 


XX. 


ESCHATOLOGY 


If  ocean  were  made  land  our  earth  would  not  con- 
tain the  multitudes  whose  births  will  mark  her  history. 
Yet  compared  with  the  innumerable  hosts  of  other 
worlds  our  humanity  is  a  cipher.  In  such  a  populous 
universe  one  being  is  a  point  amid  infinitude.  However 
insignificant,  to  each  of  us  on  earth,  comes  a  moment- 
ous, inevitable  hour.  The  spirit  leaves  the  body  to  go 
— where?  It  will  be  an  incorporeal  essence,  invisible 
and  intangible.  My  eye  can  no  more  see  air  than  my 
mind  conceive  soul.  Has  it  form  and  color  as  Tertul- 
lian  believed?  Does  is  fly?  Or  flash?  Will  it  speed 
to  a  planet,  to  the  sun,  to  a  star  for  its  abode  ?  Or  will 
it  hover  around  earth  a  tempting  demon,  or  a  guardian 
angel?  Nature  has  no  answer.  Philosophy  is  agnostic. 
Immortality  is  a  speculation.  Outside  the  Bible  we 
find  only  cold,  cynical  doubt,  or  pitiable  superstition. 

The  Old  Testament  sheds  little  light  on  the  state  of 
the  departed.  Their  place  was  styled  fa® — sheol — 
by  the  Hebrews.  It  was  a  vast  concave  darkness, 
entered  by  barred  gates,  and  peopled  with  the  shadows 
of  the  dead.  All  was  indefinite  in  location  and  condi- 
tion.    The  sheol  of  the  Hebrew  was  translated  by  adys 

224 


— Hades — in  the  Septuagint,  and  this  word  brought  the 
superstition  and  incertitude  of  the  Greek  before  the 
mind  of  the  Jew.  However,  our  Savior  expanded  and 
localized  the  conception  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
Gospels  of  the  New.  Instead  of  the  sheol  of  the  He- 
brew Bible  he  used  the  Hades  of  the  Septuagint,  and 
this  the  Gospels  divide  into  two  regions. 

PARADISE 

Behold  our  Savior  in  his  death-agony!  At  his  side 
a  thief!  As  king  the  dying  criminal  supplicates  the 
expiring  Christ.  His  penitent  cry  is  heard.  Two  re- 
leased souls  leave  their  bodies.  A  cross  is  exchanged 
for  a  crown.  Bliss  follows  pain.  Disgrace  ends  in 
triumph.  Gloom  is  left  for  glory.  On  Calvary  still  the 
crucified  bodies.  But  the  souls  of  the  forgiven  sinner 
and  the  glorified  Savior  meet  in  a  region  bright  with  the 
everlasting  radiance  of  his  Godhead.  It  has  a  name, 
apt  and  sacred,  because  given  by  our  Lord  Himself. 
We  should  call  it  by  no  other.  Amid  the  gloom  of  his 
crucifixion  arose  an  image  of  Paradise.  The  seat  of 
bliss  blasted  by  the  sin  of  the  first  Adam  is  restored  by 
the  death  of  the  second  Adam.  Each  is  a  temporary 
abode.  A  garden  suggests  place  amid  a  bloom  of 
flowers  which  is  transitory.  After  "death  the  redeemed 
pass  into  Paradise  as  a  waiting  place  until  resurrection. 
Our  Bibles  give  no  hint  of  purgatorial  fires.  Where 
is  this  abode  of  the  departed?  It  has  been  located  in 
the  sun.  Saved  spirits  are  represented  as  flashing  from 
earth,  like  rays  of  light,  through  the  luminous  ring  en- 
circling the  orb  of  the  day,  animated,  not  consumed  by 
his  fire,  to  find  on  his  globe  their  mansions  of  glory. 
Scripture  gives  us  no  proof  of  such  a  speculation. 

We  have,  however,  visible  images  of  the  souls  of  the 

225 


blest.  Eye  and  ear  are  taught  by  apocalypse.  Its  Ca>a 
— zoa — life-creatures  are  inspired  emblems  of  the  spirits 
in  Paradise.  Life-creatures  and  Elders  together  have 
harps.  Life-creatures  and  Elders  together  hold  vials 
of  odors.  Life-creatures  and  Elders  together  fall  be- 
fore the  Lamb,  singing — "Thou  wast  slain  and  hast 
redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  Blood,  out  of  every  kindred 
and  tongue  and  people  and  nation,  and  hast  made  us 
unto  our  God  kings  and  priests  and  we  shall  reign  on 
the  earth". 

Life-creatures,  then,  we  know  are  emblems  of  the 
spirits  of  Paradise.  We  have  them  imaged  in  their  ideal 
of  eternal  holiness.  Innumerable  eyes  indicate  super- 
human intelligence.  Swift  wings  represent  a  speed 
flashing  over  a  universe.  Grateful  love  of  their  cruci- 
fied and  glorious  Redeemer  animates  their  ceaseless 
worship  and  prepares  them  for  service  in  all  the  worlds 
of  his  creation. 

PANDEMONIUM 

Prophesying  Messiah  the  Psalmist  wrote,  "Thou 
wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  sheol".  Peter  in  his  Pen- 
tecostal sermon  applied  these  words  to  Christ  express- 
ing the  Hebrew  sheol,  by  the  Greek  Hades.  To  Hades 
then  went  the  soul  of  Jesus.  But  from  his  cross  the 
soul  of  Jesus  passed  also  into  Paradise.  It  follows  that 
Paradise  was  a  region  of  Hades. 

In  Hades  was  another  region  divided  from 
Paradise  by  an  impassible  abyss.  The  body  of  Dives 
was  in  his  tomb,  while  the  soul  of  Dives  was  in  Hades. 
Here  he  was  tormented  in  flames.  Here  his  parched 
tongue  thirsted  for  one  "drop  of  water".  Here  in 
Hades  Dives  was  separated  by  "a  great  gulf"  from 
Abraham  in  Paradise.  In  Hades,  therefore,  was  a  place 
of  bliss  and  a  place  of  woe. 

226 


The  words  dafaovss  and  daifiovta  -daimones  and  dai- 
monia — signify  the  souls  of  the  departed.  They  were 
equivalent  to  the  Latin  lemures,  larves  and  lares.  All 
the  ancient  nations  seem  to  have  believed  that  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  for  good  or  evil,  hover  around  the 
living.  In  the  Gospels  bad  men  are  frequently  described 
as  possessed  by  the  dKddapza  meua/xra — akatharta  pneu- 
mata — "unclean  spirits,"  equivalent  to  daimones  and 
daimonea.  In  the  parable  of  Dives  our  Lord  styles 
their  abode  Hades,  and  describes  it  as  a  place  of  tor- 
ment. As  Paradise  expresses  the  region  of  Hades 
which  is  bliss,  so  Pandemonium,  although  not  Scrip- 
tural, well  expresses  the  region  of  Hades  which  is  pain. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  as  the  souls  of  the  good 
flash  into  the  sun,  the  souls  of  the  bad  may  be  distrib- 
uted over  the  moon,  the  asteroids,  the  planets,  the 
comets,  and  be  thus  retained  in  the  system  which  gave 
them  birth.  Of  this  we  have  no  proof.  It  is  mere 
blind  speculation.  Whatever  the  usual  abode  of  de- 
mons, they  are  described  in  the  Gospels  as  dwelling  in 
the  wicked,  and  driving  on  to  frantic  excesses  of  sin 
ending  in  despair,  and  murder  and  suicide.  Paul  de- 
scribes these  tempting  spirits  in  terms  which  indicate 
might  for  evil  and  exaltation  in  rank.  They  are  "prin- 
cipalities and  powers,  and  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of 
this  world",  infesting  our  heavenly  places  of  worship 
and  communion.  Opposed  by  angels,  hosts  of  demons, 
led  by  Satan,  battle  for  the  dominion  of  humanity. 

RESURRECTION 

The  excellence  of  His  work  accords .  with  the  genius 
of  the  artist.  Sculptures  of  Phidias  and  pictures  of 
Raphael  glow  with  the  light  of  their  souls.  Did  Je- 
hovah create  Adam?    Then  the  perfection  of  the  man 


227 


corresponded  to  the  glory  of  his  God.  He  who  made 
the  stars  and  the  angels  would  not  rule  earth  from 
paradise  by  an  abortion.  Accepting  the  narrative  of 
Genesis  we  believe  that  Adam,  from  the  hand  of  Jeho- 
vah, was,  in  form  and  soul,  our  human  ideal,  harmon- 
izing with  the  perfection  of  the  Creator,  and  the  beauty 
of  his  garden.  Sin  caused  degeneracy.  Our  ideal  is 
blemished  by  centuries  of  transgressions.  Genius  seeks 
vainly  to  restore  the  lost.  Each  effort  is  marred  by  the 
defects  it  would  escape.  Marble  and  canvas  are  baf- 
fled. Hand  can  never  paint  or  carve  the  dream  of  the 
true  creative  artist.  For  a  perfect  human  body  we  must 
turn  from  the  past  to  the  future  and  from  man  to  God. 
Paradise  will  be  surpassed.  Its  ideal  will  be  forgotten 
in  a  brighter  glory.  The  trump  of  Resurrection  will 
cure  all  mortal  defects  and  transfigure  into  the  image 
of  our  Divine  Redeemer,  who  transcends  Adam  as  far 
as  God  is  above  man. 

From  creation  to  judgment  myriads  will  have  died. 
Already  perished  races  and  nations  fill  innumerable 
graves.  Corpses  strew  ocean's  floor.  Corruption 
causes  universal  change.  Bodily  particles  mingle  with 
earth,  diffuse  through  air,  fly  in  the  clouds,  incorporate 
with  animal  organisms.  To  recall  and  reconstruct  these 
scattered  human  atoms  is  possible  only  to  the  Omnipo- 
tent. Good  and  bad  will  rise  in  forms  suitable  to  the 
award  of  the  Judge  of  all.  How  far  the  old  particles 
will  compose  the  new  bodies  we  cannot  tell.  Our  Bibles 
assures  us  that  our  identity  will  remain,  and  our  per- 
sonality be  eternally  preserved. 

JUDGMENT 

Earth  is  a  moral  chaos.  Its  problems  of  evil  to  us 
are  inexplicable.    Jehovah  from  his  whirlwind  rebuked 

228 


the  childish  speculations  of  Job  and  his  friends.  The 
patriarch  renounced  the  human  egotism  which  mis- 
leads our  own  age,  and  for  his  pride  offered  sacrifice. 
Sin  !  Pain  !  Death  !  Ever  these  start  our  mortal  in- 
quiries. Why  are  such  destroying  angels  let  loose  on 
man?  Land  and  sea  and  air  are  filled  with  creatures 
devouring  each  other.  Man  kills  to  live.  Animalcules 
feed  on  their  whirling  fellows.  Yon  sparkling  dew- 
drop  is  a  slaughter  house.  Earthquake  !  Famine  !  Pes- 
tilence !  Ghastly  spectres  blasting  nations !  A  world 
of  graves !  And  moral  disorder  more  baffling  to  reason 
than  physical  suffering!  Rewards  to  the  least  deserv- 
ing !  Evil  triumphing  over  good !  Strong  races  exter- 
minating the  weak !  Conquering  tyrants  crowned  to 
oppress !  Neroes  beheaded  Pauls !  Idolaters  burn 
saints  !  Inquisitors  enriched  by  killing  millions  !  With 
dogs,  at  the  gate,  Piety  starving  in  rags !  Vice  in  the 
palace  blaspheming  in  luxury!  Over  earth  a  cry  of 
wrong  piercing  Heaven ! 

For  problems  of  human  suffering  Philosophy  has  no 
explanation.  Reason  is  dumb  before  the  miseries  of 
man.  Christianity  refers  us  to  Judgment.  There  Jesus 
on  the  throne  of  his  glory  will  answer  all  questions, 
adjust  all  equities,  and  satisfy  all  in  his  universe.  Be- 
fore impugning  the  love  and  justice  of  our  Almighty 
Father  we  must  hear  the  last  decree  of  the  Judgment 
of  his  Divine  Son.  A  salvation  embracing  eternity,  in 
life's  little  moment,  cannot  be  mastered  by  mortals.  All 
our  problems  will  be  solved  in  the  light  from  the  Great 
White  Throne. 

hell 
Of  all  pictures  the  Last    Judgment    of    the    Sistine 
Chapel  is  most  celebrated.     Genius  there  exhausts  itself 

229 


in  painting  human  torment.  Devils  exult  in  torture 
and  saints  seem  to  doubt  their  Salvation.  Our  Savior 
resembles  a  terrific  thundering  Jupiter.  We  shrink 
from  such  overpowering  woe.  The  Christ  of  our  Gos- 
pel produces  no  such  recoil.  Yet  his  words  are  fear- 
ful as  the  ghastly  scenes  of  the  Vatican  picture.  Jesus 
speaks  of  fire  and  worm,  and  wailing  and  gnashing  and 
darkness.  The  Sistine  Judgment  seems  justified  by 
those  final  words — "Depart  from  me  ye  cursed  into 
everlasting  fire/" 

The  most  terrific  images  of  our  Savior  were  taken 
from  a  loathsome  and  revolting  place  In  a  valley  be- 
low the  temple  was  thrown  the  refuse  after  sacrifice. 
Here  together  rioted  fire  and  worm  and  corruption. 
This  y££wa — Geenna — gives  name  to  Hell,  which  our 
Lord  calls  "eternal  fire".  Yet  Jesus  Himself  supplies 
warrant  to  consider  his  language  as  figurative.  The 
body  of  Dives  was  in  the  tomb.  His  soul  thirsts  and 
burns  and  talks.  In  spirit  this  is  impossible.  But  if 
here  our  Lord  spoke  in  figure  He  may  employ  figure 
elsewhere.  We  infer  that  with  Christ  fire  is  the  con- 
suming remorse  of  the  soul  for  its  guilt!  Worm  the 
gnawing  regret  of  the  soul  for  its  loss ;  darkness  the 
midnight  of  the  soul  away  from  its  Light;  wailing  and 
weeping  and  gnashing  the  voices  of  the  soul  in  its 
despair.  How  far  the  physical  state  corresponds  to  the 
moral  condition  is  not  revealed. 

Daily  our  Savior  spoke  of  the  Eternal  Life.  His 
Gospels  express  Eternal  by  the  Greek  attivto? — aionios 
— from  ai  always  and  wv  being — thus  in  its  derivation 
signifying  everlasting.  And  the  same  word  He  applies 
tc  the  death  of  the  soul  after  its  departure  from  the 
body.  We  may  well  infer  that  if  the  life  of  the  soul  is 
forever,  the  death  of  the  soul  is  forever.     Yet   aiwvtos 

230 


does  not  always  indicate  a  limitless  duration.  Whether 
transgression  terminates  in  nonexistence,  or  everlasting 
penalty  we  know  the  final  award  will  be  in  a  Divine 
Mercy  and  Justice. 

HEAVEN 

A  garden  is  a  place  of  repose.  It  refreshes  amid  the 
beauty  and  fragrance  of  flowers,  which  are  fragile  em- 
blems of  our  changeful  mortality.  Paradise,  meaning- 
garden,  aptly  expresses  the  temporary  home  of  departed 
saints,  reserved  in  bliss  for  lesurrection.  Their  eternal 
abode  is  a  City.  Its  apocalyptic  images  are  not  fading 
flowers,  but  imperishable  gems.  A  place  of  busy  en- 
ergy is  a  type  of  Heaven.  For  enterprise  and  enjoy- 
ment the  wisdom  and  wealth  of  a  nation  center  in  its 
metropolis.  A  city  is  an  emblem  of  what  is  best  in 
human  life.  Hence  it  is  selected  to  represent  our  bliss- 
ful immortality.  Ceaseless  worship  and  tireless  work 
will  eternally  occupy  its  happy  citizens.  They  may  have 
the  freedom  of  the  universe,  outspeeding  light,  as  they 
fly  or  flash  to  distant  worlds. 

SEAT 

A  King  is  throned  in  his  capital.  May  we  infer  that 
the  magnificent  city  of  apocalyptic  vision  images  the 
metropolis  of  Creation?  Although  this  is  not  revealed, 
we  may  offer  a  suggestion.  All  systems  seem  to  revolve 
about  a  sun  in  the  constellation  Hercules.  Standing  on 
that  globe  of  fire  an  angel  might  behold  billions  of 
wheeling  worlds.  Suns,  planets,  satellites  turning  and 
beaming,  and  burning!  An  illimitable  panorama  of 
circling  splendors !  Place  fitting  for  the  metropolis  of 
a  universe  governed  by  our  Redeemer,  its  Incarnate 
Creator ! 

231 


FOUNDATIONS 

Immensity  is  one  whirl  of  rushing  globes.  Each  atom 
an  everlasting  unrest!  Yet  the  soul  craves  stability. 
Heaven  must  be  eternal  permanence.  Hence  flowers 
are  not  types  of  its  felicity.  -  Gems,  made  indestruc- 
tible by  fire,  compose  the  foundations  of  our  cel- 
estial city.  Costly  in  price  they  indicate  unimagined 
riches.  Sparkling  in  splendor  they  are  signs  of  mag- 
nificence. Incapable  of  decay  they  teach  immortality. 
Impervious  to  time  and  flame  they  are  inscribed  with 
the  names  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lamb,  whose  testi- 
mony for  their  Lord  will  endure  Forever. 

walls 
On  burned  clay  rested  the  towering  ramparts  of  an- 
cient Babylon.  Brick  ssupported  that  pile,  aspiring  to 
the  stars,  whose  altar-flame  shone  over  the  vast  city.' 
Time  has  reduced* all  into  unsightly  mounds,  abodes  of 
loathsome  birds  and  voracious  beasts,  and  murdering 
Arabs.  Each  metropolis  of  that  splendid  ancient  world 
is  a  ruin.  In  contrast  our  city  of  glory!  Crystallized 
in  volcanic  fires  to  defy  decay,  jasper  sparkles  in  the 
walls  of  the  metropolis  of  Heaven.  They  signify  the 
protection  of  Omnipotence.  Flaming  in  glory  over 
creation  they  testify  that  Salvation  is  priceless  and 
everlasting. 

GATES 

How  carefully  constructed  and  guarded  the  en- 
trances to  each  ancient  walled  city !  These  admitted 
what  ever  fed  life  and  luxury.  But  through  these  also 
might  rush  enemies  for  pillage,  massacre  and  confla- 
gration. Before  the  celestial  gates  sit  twelve  angelic 
guardians.  Signs  of  the  vigilance  which  gives  security. 
Priceless  pearls  swing  on  heavenly  hinges.     On  each 

232 


gate  the  name  of  a  tribe  of  Israel.  Through  Jezvs  we 
enter  the  metropolis  of  the  Everlasting  Life.  The 
names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  on  the  gates,  as  the 
names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb  on  the  foun- 
dations ! 

STREETS 

As  through  our  veins  and  arteries  pulses  the  blood 
that  feeds  our  bodies,  so  through  its  streets  and  avenues 
flow  those  streams  of  traffic  which  support  a  vast  city. 
Along  these  rolls  the  civic  or  military  pageant  with 
banner  and  music  and  festal  joy.  And  sacred  the  dust 
touched  by  the  wheels  that  bear  away  our  dead !  Our 
streets  become  dear  by  personal,  pious  and  patriotic 
association.  Too  often  they  have  been  unsightly  with 
rough  blocks  and  blameful  neglect.  Pure  and  perman- 
ent and  resplendent  the  streets  of  apocalyptic  vision! 
They  are  paved  with  gold  which  is  indestructible  as 
gem.  In  crystal  radiance  it  gives  back  the  glory  of  the 
Lamb.  Gold  too  is  a  reminder  of  the  magnificence  of 
our  everlasting  metropolis. 

INHABITANTS 

Only  good  citizens  make  enduring  empire.  Greed, 
luxury  and  violence  defeat  the  best  laws,  and  over- 
throw the  wisest  constitutions.  Nations  and  races  tend 
to  degeneracy.  All  the  great  cities  of  antiquity  went 
down  into  moral  ruin.  History  records  the  causes  of 
their  decay,  and  the  eye  sees  its  mournful  proofs.  The 
Orient  witnesses  the  inevitable  downward  progress  of 
godless  humanity  to  final  destruction.  Scattered  librar- 
ies !  Broken  columns !  Crumbling  pyramids !  Royal 
tombs  robbed !  Royal  homes  bartered !  Royal  mum- 
mies exposed !  Instead  of  grandeur  and  glory  shame 
and   desolation !     Degenerate   populations   caused   each 

233 


overthrow.  In  contrast  with  the  terrestrial  city  is  our 
celestial  metropolis!  Having  God  for  its  architect  it 
will  be  without  mortal  defect.  From  earth's  billions 
its  citizens  are  the  elect  who  through  faith,  obedience, 
and  discipline  have  attained  everlasting  holiness. 
Apostasies  are  forever  impossible.  Instead  of  historic 
degeneracy  endless  advance  in  moral  beauty!  Bliss 
always  complete  and  always  increasing!  Each  inhabi- 
tant radiant  in  the  immortal  glow  and  glory  of  his 
bodily,  mental  and  spiritual  ideal  as  visible  in  his  Divine 
Redeemer,  the  model  and  monarch  of  his  universe! 

NAME 

Saddest  of  ruins  is  Jerusalem !  A  Roman  torch 
fired  its  temple.  Zion  was  soon  crowned  with  a  shrine 
of  Venus.  Then  succeeded  the  mosque  of  the  Otto- 
man. Beneath  it  Jews  wail  their  despair,  and  over  it 
Christians  behold  the  crescent  where  once  shone  the 
cross.  Calvary  itself  owned  by  the  infidel '  Holy 
places  sanctified  by  memories  of  prophets  and  priests 
and  kings,  and  by  the  works  and  words  and  blood  of 
the  Messiah,  possessed  by  triumphing  enemies !  Yet 
Jerusalem  is  even  dearer  by  its  degeneration.  Asso- 
ciations become  mellowed  and  beautified  and  hallowed 
by  suffering.  Our  love  for  Zion  is  everlasting.  Thus 
sacred,  the  name  of  the  Jerusalem  of  earth  is  exalted 
to  Heaven,  and  given  to  the  eternal  metropolis  of  cre- 
ation. 

WORSHIP 

Solomon  had  the  regal  power.  He  inherited  wealth 
and  the  refined  culture  which  enabled  him  to  build  for 
Jehovah  his  house  of  beauty  and  glory.  David  had 
left  his  son  more  than  money  and  material  and  model 
for  his    splendid    edifice.     Born    of    genius,   guided  by 

234 


inspiration,  breathing  celestial  fire,  fitted  for  the  wor- 
ship of  humanity  the  immortal  songs  of  the  shepherd- 
king  made  the  temple  of  Israel  a  picture  of  Heaven. 
Now,  majestic  and  magnificent,  towering  over  Rome, 
teeming  with  historic  memories,  St.  Peter's,  beneath  its 
sublime  dome,  realizes  all  that  art  can  accomplish,  by 
voice  and  instrument,  in  public  worship.  More  im- 
pressive still  Hollanders  exiled  without  the  walls ; 
Huguenots  in  secluded  valleys ;  Scots  on  their  desolate 
mountains,  roofed  by  Heaven,  from  suffering  yet  exult- 
ing hearts,  volumning  to  their  Creator  the  praise  of 
their  Redeemer !  How  poor  all  mortal  worship  com- 
pared with  that  imaged  in  the  apocalypse !  Creation 
adores.  Elders  of  earth,  life-creatures  of  paradise, 
angels  of  heaven,  with  harp  and  vial  and  censer,  pour 
forth  their  new  eternal  song  to  the  Lamb.  The  scene 
is  prophetic  of  the  day  when  the  father  and  mother  of 
our  race,  with  patriarchs  and  prophets ;  with  Mary  and 
Joseph ;  with  apostles  and  martyrs ;  with  saints  of  all 
ages  and  dispensations  will  unite  with  angels  and 
cherubim  and  seraphim  in  one  universal  and  everlast- 
ing acclaim  of  Salvation. 

FINIS 


235 


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